Spears not around as hearing begins

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) — Britney Spears was nowhere to be seen Monday as a court hearing convened in her child custody battle with ex-husband Kevin Federline.

Federline and his lawyer were on hand as Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon began the hearing, which was scheduled after Gordon earlier this month suspended Spears’ right to visit her sons.

Gordon allowed reporters into the courtroom for about one minute before he announced that the hearing was being closed.

The commissioner granted a motion Monday from Spears’ attorneys to quash a subpoena, but there was no information about what the subpoena involved or to whom it had been issued. Live blog: Spears-Federline hearing

A group of people, possibly witnesses, were later allowed into the courtroom.

Superior Court spokesman Allan Parachini, who was in court, told reporters at late morning that the first of an expected eight or nine witnesses had taken the stand. The number of witnesses suggested the hearing could last most of the day.

A throng of photographers and reporters waited outside the downtown courthouse to see if Spears, 26, would come to what one attorney described as the most significant hearing in the case so far. Law enforcement officers watched over the scene.

But Spears has had trouble making recent legal dates: On December 12, she called in sick for a court-ordered deposition, then arrived nearly two hours late at an attorney’s office on its rescheduled date, January 3.

Neither Spears nor Federline were under order to appear Monday. But Federline’s attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, suggested in an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday that it would be important for her to be there.

You can’t phone this one in, he said.

Kaplan said he knew it was only a temporary measure when he obtained emergency court orders two weeks ago granting sole physical and legal custody to Federline.

Among those expected to testify, Kaplan said, were police and emergency medical technicians who were summoned to Spears’ home the night of Jan. 3.

A court-appointed monitor called police when Spears refused to hand over Jayden James, 1, and Sean Preston, 2, to Federline’s security guard. She locked herself in a room with one of the boys.

Police officers spent hours at the house and then called fire department paramedics, who placed Spears on a gurney and took her to a hospital with a crowd of paparazzi in pursuit. She left Cedars-Sinai Medical Center a day and half later.

Police have released no information about why Spears was taken to the hospital.

TV’s Dr. Phil McGraw told celebrity news programs he was with Spears as she was released, saying she was in dire need of medical and psychological help. That drew a rebuke from Spears’ relatives.

The day after the incident, Kaplan presented papers to the court commissioner, who awarded sole legal and physical custody of the children to Federline and suspended Spears’ visitation rights.

Kaplan said if visitation is restored, it would be under more restrictions than those originally imposed by Gordon. E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Spears not around as hearing begins – found here.

Rebels abduct 6 on island, Colombia’s navy says

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Leftist rebel gunmen kidnapped six tourists from a Pacific island, Colombia’s navy said Monday, adding to the more than 700 hostages it still holds for ransom or political leverage.

The six Colombians taken — including two university professors and a biologist — were among 19 people accosted by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia on Sunday afternoon, the navy said.

Apparently, 10 uniformed bandits from the FARC, in addition to robbing these people of everything they had, kidnapped six of the 19 people who were on the boat, Adm. Guillermo Barrera, the navy’s commander, told The Associated Press.

A navy statement said the tourists were seized from the beach of Moromico island, off Colombia’s coast.

Three days earlier, the FARC freed two female hostages after six years in captivity, increasing international pressure on Colombia’s government to accede to a swap of 44 high-profile hostages, including three American military contractors and former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, for hundreds of its jailed fighters, including two in U.S. jails.
Rebels abduct 6 on island, Colombia’s navy says – found here.

Drugs, race raised in Clinton-Obama fight

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN) — Black Entertainment Television founder Bob Johnson has waded into the Democratic presidential race on behalf of Sen. Hillary Clinton, leveling what appeared to be a criticism of Sen. Barack Obama’s admitted past drug use.

Johnson, a prominent Clinton supporter, made the remarks during an appearance Sunday at a church in South Carolina, the scene of a January 26 primary with a large share of African-American voters.

Clinton also accused Obama’s presidential campaign of distorting remarks she and her husband have made recently, which touched off concerns among some African-American voters.

Johnson said he has held previous fund-raisers for Obama but was unhappy with criticisms of the former first lady-turned-New York senator by Obama’s campaign.

As an African American, I’m frankly insulted that the Obama campaign would imply that we are so stupid that we would think Bill and Hillary Clinton, who have been deeply and emotionally involved in black issues when Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood that I won’t say what he was doing, but he said it in his book, Johnson said while campaigning at Columbia’s largely black Northminster Presbyterian Church.

In Obama’s recently reprinted 1995 book, Dreams of My Father the future presidential candidate writes he was once headed in the direction of a junkie and a pothead.

In December, Clinton personally apologized to Obama after her New Hampshire campaign co-chairman raised the issue, and the adviser resigned amid the controversy that followed.

In a statement issued Sunday afternoon, Johnson said his remarks referred to Barack Obama’s time spent as a community organizer, and nothing else. Any other suggestion is simply irresponsible and incorrect.

The Clinton and Obama camps are locked in an increasingly heated battle for black voters in South Carolina, whose primary choices include the African-American senator and the wife of a man once nicknamed the first black president.

Former South Carolina state Rep. I.S. Leevy Johnson, an Obama supporter, called on Clinton to disavow Johnson’s remarks.

It’s offensive that Senator Clinton literally stood by and said nothing as another one of her campaign’s top supporters launched a personal, divisive attack on Barack Obama, he said in a statement released by Obama’s campaign. For someone who decries the politics of personal destruction, she should’ve immediately denounced these attacks on the spot.

Sunday’s flare-up capped a weekend of sparring between the two camps that began with Clinton’s comments last week that while Martin Luther King Jr. led the civil rights movement, Dr. King’s dream began to be realized when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It took a president to get it done.

Some African-American leaders criticized the remarks as dismissive of the civil rights movement and of King, who was assassinated in 1968. On Sunday, Obama described Clinton’s comments as ill-advised but rejected any suggestion that his campaign has been behind the complaints.

For them to somehow suggest that we’re interjecting race as a consequence of a statement she made, that we haven’t commented on, is pretty hard to figure out, he told reporters on Sunday.

And the third leading Democrat, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, said Clinton was suggesting that real change … came not through the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, but through a Washington politician. Edwards won the South Carolina primary in 2004.

Speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Clinton said Obama’s backers were distorting her remarks and called King one of the people I admire most in the world.

He understood that he had to move the political process and bring in those who were in political power, she said. And he campaigned for political leaders, including Lyndon Johnson, because he wanted somebody in the White House who would act on what he had devoted his life to achieving.

And Sunday, at the Presbyterian church, Clinton said it was historic that both a black man and a woman were considered serious contenders for the White House.

I am so proud of my party. I am so proud of my country, and I am so proud of Senator Barack Obama because together we have presented our cases to the people, she said.

Edwards, meanwhile, used an appearance at a black church in Sumter, east of Columbia to remind voters that he is a native of the state. Edwards said his experience growing up in the then-segregated South allowed him to understand in a personal way the struggles that African-Americans have gone through.

No one has been more aggressive and more outspoken on issues that affect the African-American community, said Edwards, a veteran trial lawyer and the Democrats’ vice presidential nominee in 2004.

Obama also accused her of rewriting history in her complaints about his voting record on Iraq.

Former President Bill Clinton last week criticized Obama’s statements over the years about Iraq, and argued that Obama has not been consistent.

Obama has said his positions are consistent, and that he has always staunchly opposed the war. And he told reporters Sunday, She started her campaign saying she wanted to make history and has been spending a lot of time rewriting it.
Drugs, race raised in Clinton-Obama fight – found here.

Choi battles for wire-to-wire win

HONOLULU, Hawaii (AP) — K.J. Choi held off a late challenge from Rory Sabbatini to complete a wire-to-wire victory at the Sony Open, winning by three strokes in blustery conditions at Waialae Country Club on Sunday.

Equipped with a four-shot lead, the Korean closed with a one-over 71 as he became the first man in 41 years to win the event with a final round over par.

South Africa’s Sabbatini fired six birdies in his 68 but a double-bogey at the par-four eighth hole and other dropped shots at the fifth and 15th left him with too much ground to make up, having started the day six strokes off the lead.

All things considered, I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season, Sabbatini said.

His birdie at the 16th left him two behind Choi, who settled down with a par from just off the same green and a chip that caught part of the cup on the 17th.

Choi dropped shots at the fourth and 13th holes, but picked up his only birdie of the day at the final hole to close with a total of 14-under 266 and claim his seventh victory on the PGA Tour and the winner’s purse of $954,000.

He is the first player to lead the event from start to finish since Paul Azinger in 2000.

I can’t remember having such a difficult round as today, Choi said.It was very difficult conditions out there. I told myself, ‘Try not to lose focus.’

When I made that three-putt (at 13), that really woke me up. It was kind of like medicine. It woke me up and I said, ‘I have to hang in there, not fall apart.’ It motivated me.

The 37-year-old has now won a tournament for the fourth consecutive season — Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh are the only other players with active streaks that long.

Jerry Kelly closed with a bogey-free 67 to finish alone in third on 270, one behind Sabbatini.

He came into the week at No. 64 in the world rankings, and he will move into the mid-50s with only four weeks before the deadline to qualify for the Accenture Match Play Championship.

I’m aware of that, but I’m not worried about it, the American said. I’ve always paid too much attention to everything. I’m trying to get away from the future and the past, because I’ve handled both of them poorly.

Being lulled to sleep for three days made it tougher. If we would have been facing this all week, we might have seen more rounds like that. I’ll tell you, I’d hate to be a rookie and just all of a sudden see this place Sunday.

One such rookie was Tim Wilkinson, the 29-year-old from New Zealand playing in only his third PGA Tour event, and starting off in the final group with Choi after a third-round 62.

Wilkinson started off with a bogey and it went badly from there as he shot 78 to tie for 25th.

Steve Stricker birdied the last hole for a 70 and finished in a tie for fourth with Stephen Marino (72), Pat Perez (70) and Kevin Na, who made eagle on the final hole for a 72.
Choi battles for wire-to-wire win – found here.

Indian PM on state visit to China

BEIJING, China (AP) — Highlighting the growing role of the Chinese and Indian economies in driving world trade, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed a business conference in Beijing on Monday at the start of a state visit aimed at revitalizing sometimes strained relations between the two Asian giants.

Singh arrived in Beijing on Sunday for a three-day visit and was scheduled to meet with top Chinese leaders including President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and the Communist Party’s No. 2 ranking official, Wu Bangguo.

Singh’s visit, the first by an Indian prime minister in nearly five years, comes as the two nations see their bilateral trade surge to $37 billion (25.04 billion) in 2007.
Indian PM on state visit to China – found here.

Suspect in Marine killing spotted, manhunt under way

JACKSONVILLE, North Carolina (CNN) — A man suspected of killing a pregnant Marine in North Carolina may be heading to Texas, according to police.

Authorities on Sunday said they were zeroing in on Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean, charged with first-degree murder in the death of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach. Witnesses said a man fitting his description was seen either on a bus or getting off a bus that was heading to Texas.

But Onslow County, North Carolina, Sheriff Ed Brown cautioned, That doesn’t mean he has to be tied to going that same direction.

We don’t know if he is still in the area. We believe it may have just been a pass-through. We received information he may be headed into Texas, Shreveport police Chief Henry Whitehorn Sr., told The Associated Press.

Despite all this, Brown said he was confident that Laurean will be located, and, I think it will be sooner than maybe we had expected.

He added, I think it will be a short vacation for Mr. Laurean. Watch Brown say he is confident Laurean will be found

When asked why Laurean wasn’t arrested when he was seen on Saturday night, Brown said it was because he wasn’t sighted by law enforcement. We told the folks in the general public, don’t try to detain him.

Brown said police believe Laurean could be a dangerous and violent person if he was put in a corner. Watch Brown’s update on the case

The remains of an adult and a fetus were found Saturday in a shallow grave in Laurean’s backyard in North Carolina, Brown announced Saturday.

Laurean has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, although authorities have not positively identified the body as hers.

This is consistent with what we were looking for: A pregnant lady who is the victim Maria Lauterbach and her unborn child, Brown said.

The body was charred, and the fetus was in the victim’s abdomen, Brown said, describing the scene.

The fetus was developed enough that the little hand was about the size of my thumb. The little fingers were rolled up, he said.

One of the things that will probably stick with me for a long time, and forever, is that little hand, the way those fingers were turned, that had been burned off the arm. That is bizarre. That is tragic. And it’s disgusting. Watch Brown describe the scene

The remains were taken to the Onslow County medical examiner’s office. They will next be sent to the chief medical examiner in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for DNA testing and comparison with dental records.

Lauterbach, 20, was eight months pregnant when she disappeared from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, in mid-December, not long before she was to testify at a military hearing about her rape accusation against Laurean.

Lauterbach’s relatives believe her pregnancy was the result of the alleged rape, said Lauterbach’s uncle, Peter Steiner, a Kentucky psychiatrist.

Laurean, 21, of Nevada, is believed to have left the base at 4 a.m. Friday, and a nationwide manhunt is under way.

He is believed to be driving a black Dodge pickup with North Carolina license plate TRR1522.

Investigators said that Laurean vanished four hours before his wife, Christina, approached Brown with a note from her husband claiming that Lauterbach had committed suicide, and he buried the body.

Brown said Friday that blood spatter evidence was found inside Laurean’s home, even on a ceiling. There was evidence of an attempted cleanup, including an attempt to paint over the blood spatter, he said.

Evidence now is saying what he’s claiming happened did not happen like he said it happened, Brown said of Laurean.

Lauterbach’s mother, Mary Lauterbach, reported the young woman as missing from Camp Lejeune on December 19. Mary Lauterbach said she had not talked with her daughter for five days.

Military officials said Laurean was not taken into custody after Lauterbach reported the alleged rape because there was information the two carried on some sort of friendly relationship after she filed the complaint against him.

The information … leads us to believe that she still had some kind of contact with him, said Paul Ciccarelli, agent in charge of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service at Camp Lejeune, this week.

Because of that, Laurean wasn’t considered a flight risk, he said.

Steiner disputed that and said his niece had no relationship with Laurean.

Ciccarelli also said the rape investigation is still active. See a timeline of the case

On Friday, authorities questioned Lauterbach’s roommate, Sgt. Daniel Durham, but said he had no apparent ties to her disappearance or death. Authorities have not released any details from that interview.
Suspect in Marine killing spotted, manhunt under way – found here.