alt39 Spy in the bagalt39 inquest opens in Britain
LONDON A inquest opened on Monday into the mysterious death of a British spy whose naked body was found padlocked in a bag at his home two years ago. The de
composing remains of Gareth Williams, 30, were found in August 2010 in a holdall in the bath at his London home, near the headquarters of Britains MI6 external intelligence service where he worked. His family believe secret agents versed in the ” dark arts” tried to cover up his death, but Scotland Yard detectives have found no evidence that anyone else had been with Williams in his flat at the time of his death.
Around 30 witnesses are expected to give evidence in the five- day inquest at Westminster Coroners Court in London.
US embassy warns of possible attacks in Kenya
NAIROBI The US embassy in Kenya on Monday warned of a possible attack which is ” in the last stages of planning” on Nairobi hotels and key government buildings and urged American citizens to be cautious.
” Timing of the attack is not known, however, the embassy has reason to believe that the potential attack is in the last stages of planning,” the embassy said in a statement.
Pentagon spooks get own spy service
WASHINGTON The Pentagon is reorganising its clandestine spy operation, sending more of its case officers to work alongside CIA officers to gather intelligence in places like China, after a decade of focusing intensely on war zones. A senior defence official says several hundred case officers will make up the new Defense Clandestine Service.
Defence Department personnel already gather intelligence globally on everything from terrorism to weapons of mass destruction, mostly working out of CIA stations in embassies. But the Defense Intelligence Agency did not always reward that experience with promotions, so its officers often left for the CIA, one senior defense official said.
Patient swallows syringe, seeks fine from hospital
BEIJING A man in China who swallowed barrel of a doctors syringe during an operation is all set to receive 60,000 yuan ($ 9,500) in compensation after the hospital authorities admitted to their staffs blunder. Zhang Hua underwent an operation under general anesthesia March 22 to remove polyps from his nose at a hospital in Yichang, a city in central Chinas Hubei province, the China Daily reported. ” When I came round after the anesthetic had worn off, I had an awful pain in my throat,” Zhang said. As Zhangs family brought the problem to his surgeons notice, they were told that it was a routine pain. Four hours later he got out of bed and vomited. ” After vomiting some blood, I felt something stick in my mouth. It was covered in blood, and I threw it in a trash can before I realised it was a syringe barrel.” In a statement, the hospital authorities later explained when surgeons removed a tube during the operation, they had placed a syringe barrel in Zhangs mouth to extract phlegm and to prevent him biting himself.
Explosion, fireball in Nevada, California
RENO ( US) A loud explosion heard across much of Nevada and California rattled homes and prompted a flood of calls to law enforcement agencies on both sides of the Sierra Nevada mountains, some reporting fireball sightings.
The sound and the light show were likely caused by a meteor that entered Earths atmosphere yesterday, astronomers said. ” It made the shades in my room shake hard enough to slam into the window a couple times,” said Nicole Carlsen of the Reno area.
” I kept looking for earthquake information, but ( there was) nothing. I even checked the front of my house to make sure no one ran into the garage. I wish I had seen the meteor.”
