Report: Syrian cities free of 'terrorists'
LATAKIA, Syria, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- The Syrian regime said troops rid Dier Ezzor and the Ramel neighborhood of Latakia of "terrorist groups" that threatened citizens' safety.
The Syrian Arab News Agency said security forces left Dier Ezzor and were withdrawing from the Ramel neighborhood after "putting an end to the armed terrorist groups who terrified the safe citizens by their criminal acts."
CNN reported, however, the Local Coordination Committees of Syria said a representative in Latakia indicated troops loyal to President Bashar Assad only relocated their vehicles.
The LLC said gunfire was heard sporadically in Latakia Wednesday morning and snipers were nested on the rooftops. Many residents have fled. As of Wednesday, at least 40 people died in five days.
At least five people died in Latakia Tuesday, one resident told CNN. Residents have not had electricity or water for several days.
Assad has said he wants to initiate reforms, but has sent his troops to cities to protect citizens from "armed thugs" bent on harm.
Elsewhere, a man standing on his balcony in Jabal al-Zawiya was killed Wednesday during military and security operations, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
A Jabal al-Zawiya resident told CNN that the military fortified its presence in the city.
"I don't know if I can get outside of the city now -- military is everywhere," he said.
The U.N. Relief and Works Agency, which provides assistance to Palestinian refugees, expressed "grave concern" over reports of heavy gunfire from Syrian security forces into the Ramel refugee camp and other areas.
Second suit challenges FDA cigarette regs
WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Five tobacco companies filed a second lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of regulations and graphic warning labels under a 2009 U.S. law.
The new suit, filed Tuesday, challenges specific regulations that led to the Food and Drug Administration choosing nine graphic warning labels, The New York Times reported.
The companies lost a similar complaint last year when a U.S. district judge in Kentucky ruled they could be forced to print graphic images and warnings that cover the top half of cigarette packages by the fall of 2012. The ruling was appealed to the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which hasn't ruled.
Floyd Abrams, a lawyer representing Lorillard, said such strategy of filing two suits wasn't unusual for when controversial regulations follow a controversial law. The new suit was filed in the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia.
Abrams said the labels and images -- which include a corpse and a man blowing smoke through a tracheotomy hole in his neck -- violate First Amendment protections for commercial speech.
"The government can require warnings which are straightforward and essentially uncontroversial, but they can't require a cigarette pack to serve as a mini-billboard for the government's anti-smoking campaign," Abrams told the Times.
Matthew Myers, president of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said the only new facts in the second lawsuit were the nine label pictures.
"Having raised the same issues before the court in Kentucky and lost, Lorillard is obviously forum shopping to try to find a judge somewhere who will rule in their favor," Myers told the Times.
The lawsuit was filed by Lorillard, the third-largest U.S. cigarette-maker; R.J. Reynolds, the second-largest maker; and three smaller companies. Altria, parent company of Philip Morris, supported the law.
Ex-Ukrainian leader wants Putin to testify
KIEV, Ukraine, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- A court in the Ukraine was told Wednesday that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin must give evidence at the trial of former Premier Yulia Tymoshenko.
Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko testified that it would be "impossible to establish the truth" in the case without the testimony of the Russian chief, RIA Novosti reported.
Tymoshenko is on trial on abuse of office charges in connection with a 2009 Russian gas deal she signed that was disadvantageous to the Ukraine.
Besides Putin, Yushchenko said the chief executive officer of Russian energy giant Gazprom should also be called to testify.
He said his former ally Tymoshenko was too hasty in signing the gas contract with Russia and failed to protect Ukraine's national interests.
Yushchenko called the deal to buy gas for $360 per 1000 cubic meters "a shock," adding that the price should be $200 per 1000 cubic meters.
If convicted, Tymoshenko faces 10 years in prison.
Police: Missing woman had insurance policy
ORANJESTAD, Aruba, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- An insurance policy taken out shortly before a trip is being examined as a possible motive in the disappearance of a Maryland woman, Aruba officials said.
ABC News said police confirmed the investigation into the $1.5 million accidental death policy on Robyn Gardner that names Gary Giordano as a beneficiary, as well as the fact he bought a more expensive one-year policy instead of a cheaper five-year policy usually purchased.
Gardner, 35, has been missing for two weeks. She reportedly went snorkeling with Giordano off an isolated beach on the island Aug. 2. She and Giordano traveled together from Maryland to Aruba.
Aruban police said she is now presumed dead.
In the United States, the FBI is investigating the accidental death policy and has agents in Aruba to question Giordano. ABC News said court documents indicate he has a history of domestic violence.
Giordano, 50, was ordered to remain in an Aruban jail for 16 days more while police investigate what they say are "serious inconsistencies" in his story. Investigators uncovered apparent gaps in witness statements about when they saw the pair on the beach and the timeline Giordano provided when he reported Garner missing.
Giordano is the only suspect in the case, even though he hasn't been charged, authorities said.
During the weekend, federal agents searched Giordano's Gaithersburg, Md., home, seizing cell phones and laptops.
A dive shop owner says he was the last to see Gardner.
The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, said he saw her the afternoon she disappeared, ABC reported Tuesday.
He said he later saw Giordano's rental car near a rocky path that leads to the ocean, which he thought was an unusual place for snorkeling.
Record-breaking heat continues
STATE COLLEGE, Pa., Aug. 17 (UPI) -- A tropical storm or a strong cold front are the only ways to bring substantial heat and drought relief to the beleaguered state of Texas, a weather expert said.
Unfortunately, neither event is on the horizon, Meteorologist Brian Edwards of AccuWeather.com said.
Houston has become the latest city in Texas to break a 1980 record for the greatest number of consecutive 100-degree days, AccuWeather.com reported Wednesday.
The weather service said Tuesday marked the 16th straight day that temperatures soared past the 100-mark in Houston.
Two other Texas towns, Wichita Falls and Waco, broke records earlier while Dallas came within two days of tying its 1980 record of 42 days of consecutive 100-degree temperatures.
Temperatures in South Florida hit 90 degrees for the 38th day in a row Tuesday surpassing a record set back in 1952, The Miami Herald reported.
No end to the heat wave is in sight with the National Weather Service forecast calling for highs of at least 90 degrees in South Florida through next Tuesday.
