Eunice Kennedy Shriver dead at 88
CAPE COD, Mass., Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Eunice Kennedy Shriver, younger sister of President John Kennedy and founder of the Special Olympics, died Tuesday in a hospital in Massachusetts. She was 88.
Pushed by love for her developmentally disabled sister, Shriver devoted much of her life to raising funds for and awareness of people with mental disabilities.
She was admitted to the Cape Cod, Mass., hospital's intensive care unit last week for an undisclosed reason.
Shriver is the wife of Sargent Shriver, the first director of the Peace Corps and a former U.S. ambassador to France. He was a Democratic vice presidential candidate in 1972.
She is the mother of broadcaster Maria Shriver, wife of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Shriver received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, from President Ronald Reagan in 1984 for her work with the disabled.
The fifth child of America's powerful and enigmatic Kennedy family, Shriver was born July 10, 1921, in the family's home on Naples Avenue in Brookline, Mass.
On May 23, 1953, she married Robert Sargent Shriver, a member of her father's staff, whom she had known for several years.
In 1968, she founded the Special Olympics for handicapped athletes, the first systematic effort to provide sports training and athletic competition for individuals with mental retardation.
She also headed the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation, named for her brother killed in World War II, which helps fund research to prevent mental retardation and works to improve the lives of the mentally disabled. Shriver was a major force in opening the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center in Waltham, Mass., in 1969 for children and adults with developmental deficiencies.
Shriver is survived by her husband, five children, brother Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and a sister, Jean Kennedy Smith.
Obama in New Hampshire for healthcare chat
PORTSMOUTH, N.H., Aug. 11 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama was on the road again, going to Portsmouth, N.H., to push his case for reforming the U.S. healthcare system.
Obama was to conduct a town hall Tuesday on heathcare reform at Portsmouth High School, where he planned to discuss aspects of his initiative, such as what it means for people with health coverage and consumer protection mechanisms, the White House said. Obama also was to focus on his goal of ending denial of coverage based on pre-existing conditions.
City officials said they expected supporters and opponents to turn out in huge numbers, even though not all will get inside the high school to be with the president, Seacoastonline.com reported.
State Rep. Robin Read, D-Portsmouth, said he is a long-time supporter of Obama and healthcare reform.
"Healthcare reform is one of the most important issues for this country," Read said. "It's long past time to get it done."
Jim Forsythe of Strafford, N.H., said he was "skeptical" and "nervous" about plans being floated in Congress, saying a lot of money already is tied up in Medicare and Medicaid and the federal government doesn't need to get involved in operating more programs, Seacoastonline.com said.
"We're in bad shape because of government involvement," Forsythe said.
Myanmar court finds Suu Kyi guilty
YANGON, Myanmar, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- A military court Tuesday extended Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's detention, ruling she had violated house arrest rules.
The ruling comes after a lengthy trial, which was widely condemned around the world, and imposes on the 64-year-old pro-democracy activist, who has already spent 14 of the past 20 years under detention, 18 months more of house arrest.
She was put on trial after being accused of allowing American John William Yettaw into her home, a charge she had denied.
Yettaw, who swam two miles to her home in May, was sentenced to seven years of hard labor after being convicted of violating immigration and other laws, CNN reported. Suu Kyi's two housekeepers were sentenced to 18 months of house arrest each.
The court initially sentenced Suu Kyi to three years in prison, but it was commuted by ruling military junta leader Gen. Than Shwe to 18 months of home confinement, CNN reported.
The general's order said the sentence was commuted because Suu Kyi is the daughter of assassinated Gen. Aung San, who helped Myanmar, formerly Burma, win freedom from British colonial rule. The order said the junta also did not want instability as it prepares for elections next year.
The Nobel Peace Prize holder is permitted to meet with government-approved guests and has access to television and newspapers, but cannot leave her home.
The ruling can be appealed within 60 days.
In Congo, Clinton to discuss violence
GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton traveled to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo Tuesday where she said she would speak out against violence.
She was to participate in a roundtable discussion with victims of sexual and gender-based violence in Goma, in an area that has seen conflict for more than a decade, CNN reported
"I will be pressing very hard for not just assistance to help those who are being abused and mistreated, in particular the women who are turned into weapons of war through the rape they experience, but also looking for ways to try to end this conflict," Clinton said.
Clinton said she also would visit with refugees and speak to rape victims in an area with one of the highest rates of sexual violence worldwide, the Washington Post reported.
Since 1996, eastern Congo has endured two civil wars and battles between militia groups that have left at least 5 million people dead. Hundreds of thousands of women have been raped by soldiers and militia members.
Clinton was to meet Congolese President Joseph Kabila in Goma, saying she planned to discuss with him how his government could gain credibility and how the military could be improved.
Johnnie Carson, U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs, said the United States is committed to promoting reform of Congo's security forces, including training, the Post said.
"But in order to ensure that soldiers who are trained by the U.S. will remain in the army to do their jobs, it is critically important that there be fundamental reform of the Ministry of Defense," he said.
Clinton began her Africa mission in Kenya, then traveled to South Africa and Angola. After Congo, she is scheduled to go to Nigeria, Liberia and Cape Verde.
Sunni Muslims from Iraq join Gaza terror
JERUSALEM, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Scores of Islamic terrorists including Sunni Muslims who fought U.S. troops in Iraq have entered Gaza and set up cells, Israeli defense officials said.
The officials said they believe the flow of foreign terrorists to the Gaza Strip will decrease once U.S. troops withdraw from Iraq, Haaretz said Tuesday.
While Hamas in Gaza is in control of more established groups affiliated with the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, it finds it difficult to handle the smaller groups who identify with worldwide Jihad and al-Qaida, the paper said.
In recent months there has been an increasing number of operatives who have deserted Hamas in favor of the more extremist groups, the officials told the paper.
Hamas currently is trying to maintain calm to replenish its arsenal and rocketry, stockpiling more weapons and rockets than it had before the three week Israeli military offensive Operation Cast Lead. In some cases, Hamas has acted to prevent attacks against Israel, the officials told the paper.
Hamas also sends operatives to Iran and Lebanon for military training, officials told the paper.
