|
(Continued from page 30)
the world if the Congress votes against the resolution?"
• ___
Egypt military helicopters, armored vehicles go on offensive against militants in the Sinai
• EL-ARISH, Egypt (AP) -- A military official says Egyptian helicopters and tanks are attacking Islamic militants in villages in the northern Sinai Peninsula. He says "dozens" have been killed or wounded.
• The Saturday assault came after Egypt deployed a column of armored vehicles and trucks carrying infantry into the region, a militant stronghold, in a major new counterinsurgency offensive, the official said.
• He said columns of smoke could be seen rising from several villages near the towns of Rafah and Sheikh Zuweyid on the border with the Gaza Strip and Israel. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to media.
• Multiple al-Qaida-inspired militant groups have stepped up attacks against security forces in the Sinai since the ouster of Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi on July 3.
• ___
Ex-FBI director Freeh finds possible corruption in BP settlement program
• NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A former FBI director recommended Friday that the Justice Department investigate whether several lawyers plotted to corrupt the settlement program designed to compensate victims of BP's 2010 Gulf oil spill.
• But the independent probe led by Louis Freeh didn't find any evidence of wrongdoing by the multibillion-dollar settlement's court-appointed administrator, who has been a target of BP's increasingly aggressive campaign to challenge payouts to Gulf Coast businesses.
• Freeh, who was appointed by a federal judge to investigate alleged misconduct by a staff attorney who worked on the settlement program, cleared claims administrator Patrick Juneau of engaging in any "conflict of interest, or unethical or improper conduct."
• The report also found nothing that warranted shutting down payments to victims of the oil spill, which spewed millions of gallons of oil into the water, fouling marshes, fisheries and beaches from Louisiana to Florida.
• However, Freeh concluded that then-top members of Juneau's staff engaged in conduct that was improper, unethical and possibly criminal. He recommended that (Continued on page 32)
|
|
