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and Peter Diamandis pioneered the idea of selling rides into space to tourists and, Diamandis' company offers "weightless" airplane flights.
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Panetta tours Colombian military training center; US can share lessons from Afghanistan
• BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- Defense Secretary Leon Panetta got a glimpse into how America's military's experience in Afghanistan is contributing to the U.S. counterinsurgency training in Colombia.
• While the two conflicts are no perfect match, U.S. military and defense officials said they can learn from the Colombian's long and bloody campaign against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC. Likewise, Colombia can learn from U.S. experiences battling the Taliban's roadside bomb threat, which has been the No. 1 killer in Afghanistan.
• Under a blistering sun, Panetta and his staff flew Monday to the Talemaida Army Base in the mountains outside Bogota, where U.S. trainers help instruct members of the Colombian special forces.
• Panetta also announced during his visit to the base that the U.S. would facilitate the sale of 10 helicopters to Bogota -- five Army Black Hawks and five commercial aircraft -- to help Colombian forces in their fight against the FARC.
• Out at the training grounds, a U.S. military officer participating in the program said U.S. special operators are sharing their 10 years of battlefield counterinsurgency experience. The Colombians, he said, can use many of the same techniques, particularly how to share intelligence, sustain and support troops on a long-term basis, and identify and counter improvised explosive devises.
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With Jennifer Hudson's testimony over in family murder trial, prosecutors' hard work begins
• CHICAGO (AP) -- Chicago prosecutors created a buzz by calling Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson as their first witness during the trial of the man accused of killing her mother, brother and nephew. But the hard part starts Tuesday, when they'll have to get down to the nitty-gritty of their case.
• With no surviving witnesses to the murders, prosecutors must offer overwhelming circumstantial evidence that William Balfour, the ex-husband of Hudson's sister, committed the grisly crime on Oct. 24, 2008. They are expected to introduce evidence in the next few days that includes cellphone records and security-camera (Continued on page 34)
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