Cameron meets queen, to form government
LONDON, May 11 (UPI) -- Conservative Party leader David Cameron pledged to usher in a new era of government responsibility as British prime minister Tuesday, ending days of disarray.
Cameron finally got the his chance to form a government Tuesday after five days of political drama following an election that saw the Labor Party lose its majority in Parliament and its leader, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, step down from power, The Times of London reported.
Brown formally submitted his resignation to Queen Elizabeth II, who accepted, Buckingham Palace said. Brown had been involved in government for 13 years, 10 as chancellor and the past three as prime minister.
The genesis for the bang-bang-bang series of events Tuesday began Thursday when the Conservative Party won the most seats, but not a majority, resulting in a hung Parliament. Since then, negotiations for alliances have been under way between the Tories and Liberal Democrats, and between Liberal Democrats and Brown's Labor Party.
"Her Majesty, the queen, has asked me to form a new government and I have accepted," Cameron said after he met with the British monarch. He also paid tribute to Brown for his "long record of dedicated public service."
Discussing the coalition he will form with Liberal Democrats, Cameron said, "We have some deep and pressing problems -- a huge deficit, deep social problems, a political system in need of reform. For those reasons, I aim to form a proper and full coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats."
He said Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg wants to put aside party differences and "work hard for the common good and for the national interest."
In his resignation announcement, Brown stated, "I said I would do all that I could to ensure a strong, stable and principled government was formed."
Salazar to split rig inspecting unit in 2
WASHINGTON, May 11 (UPI) -- The U.S. Interior Department unit tasked with overseeing offshore drilling will be split into two entities, administration officials said Tuesday.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Tuesday a proposal to split the Minerals Management Service, separating its policing and royalty-collection duties, The Christian Science Monitor reported.
Critics have said a conflict of interest existed because the same agency that collects an annual $13 billion in royalties also was responsible for inspecting rigs, enforcing safety rules and probing charges of wrongdoing.
"I think what is driving a lot of moves toward tighter regulations is our trust has been violated, and when trust is breached or lost, it's hard to get it back," Duane Gill, an oil spill disaster expert at Oklahoma State University, told the Monitor.
The announcement was made as several hearings were being conducted into what caused a Deepwater Horizon oil rig to explode April 20 and eventually sink, leaking hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico and menacing the environment and economies along the Gulf Coast. Eleven workers died.
While BP bears the brunt of the blame for the latest spill, MMS has been criticized for allegedly failing to react to studies indicating problems with blow-out preventers, refusing to mandate back-up systems and downplaying the extent of other accidents in the gulf.
While the Obama administration stopped new exploratory drilling in the gulf, MMS approved 26 environmental review exemptions for proposed drilling sites since the accident, the Monitor said.
Salazar also said Tuesday he will seek an additional $29 million from Congress for more rigorous rig inspections and enforcement.
"The tragedy aboard the Deepwater Horizon and the massive spill for which BP is responsible has made the importance and urgency of our reform agenda even clearer," Salazar said.
Mojave Cross torn down by vandals
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, Calif., May 11 (UPI) -- A California war memorial cross was stolen after the Supreme Court ruled religious symbols may remain for now on public lands, the cross's caretaker group said.
The Mojave Cross, erected in San Bernardino County's High Desert in 1934 by a veterans group in tribute to fellow fallen soldiers in World War I, was torn down by vandals Sunday, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported.
The cross has been the focus of decadelong litigation between its proponents and those who believe it violates the separation of church and state, the newspaper said.
In April the Supreme Court overruled a lower court's decision to remove the cross and remanded the case back to a California federal district court.
"This is an outrage, akin to desecrating people's graves," said Kelly Shackelford, president of Liberty Institute, a group that represented caretakers of the cross and veterans groups in the Supreme Court case. "It's a disgraceful attack on the selfless sacrifice of our veterans. We will not rest until this memorial is re-installed."
Death still possibility for Caylee's mom
ORLANDO, Fla., May 11 (UPI) -- The judge in Casey Anthony's Florida murder trial Tuesday denied Anthony's motion to remove the possibility of the death penalty, court records showed.
Orange County Chief Judge Belvin Perry Jr. denied the defense team's motion to remove the death sentence based on gender bias, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Caylee Marie, her daughter. Anthony was indicted by a grand jury in October 2008, three months before Caylee's remains were discovered near the family home.
"Societal biases against women provide the state with a way of deflecting attention away from the insufficiency of the evidence in Miss Anthony's case," the defense said, adding that the state often does not seek the death penalty against men accused of killing children.
White middle-class mothers get more intensive media coverage compared with defendants in other cases. The media often concentrates on other issues, such as a woman's clothing or whether she has a tattoo or goes to see male strippers, none of which has anything to do with the criminal case, said Elizabeth Rapaport, a University of New Mexico law professor who testified about her research on gender and the death penalty.
Those issues, Rapaport said, are "not legally relevant to guilt."
When questioned by Assistant State Attorney Jeff Ashton if she has any evidence that the prosecutors in this case were gender biased, Rapaport said she did not. Ashton said the decision to seek the death penalty was based on the evidence, not gender discrimination.
The trial is scheduled for May 2011.
