Indian court convicts 4 in fatal gang rape case
NEW DELHI — An Indian court convicted four men Tuesday in the fatal gang rape of a young woman on a moving New Delhi bus, an attack that set off waves of protests and gave voice to years of anger over the treatment of women.
The men, convicted on all the counts against them, including rape and murder, now face the possibility of hanging. The sentences are expected to be handed down today.
Syria accepts Russsian chemical weapons plan
BEIRUT — President Bashar Assad’s government Tuesday accepted a Russian plan to turn over its chemical weapons stockpile as momentum mounted for a proposal that could avert American strikes against the regime.
Syria’s foreign minister said the government would accept a plan from Russia, its most powerful ally, to give up its chemical weapons in order “to thwart U.S. aggression,” offering a diplomatic option for how to respond to the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack that the Obama administration, France and others blame on Assad.
Damascus denies its forces were behind the attack. The U.S. has said more than 1,400 Syrians died; even conservative estimates from international organizations put the toll at several hundred.
Court affirms Google wrongly collected personal data
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A federal appeals court said Google wrongly collected people’s personal correspondence and online activities through their Wi-Fi systems as it drove down streets with car cameras shooting photos for its Street View mapping project.
The ruling that the practice violates wiretap laws sends a warning to other companies seeking to suck up vast amounts of data from unencrypted Wi-Fi signals.
Google had argued that their activities were exempt from the wiretap law because data transmitted over a Wi-Fi network is a “radio communication” and is “readily accessible to the public.”
Spacecraft orbits Earth, sights set on moon
The spacecraft launched Friday night from Virginia is now thousands and thousands of miles away, NASA said. It is orbiting the Earth, in preparation for its mission of orbiting the moon.
Known as LADEE, for Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, the spacecraft is now in an elliptical orbit around the Earth, about 160,000 miles up, NASA said.
At 12:30 p.m. EDT Tuesday, the spacecraft reached the farthest point from Earth on its current orbit. On Friday at 12:38 p.m. EDT, it will make its closest approach.
According to plans, it will orbit the Earth three times, then be captured by lunar gravity and make its way into an orbit around the moon.
The science missions to be performed there include studies of lunar dust, of conditions near the lunar surface and of the moon’s atmosphere.
Long-acting opioids discouraged by FDA
as first pain option
WASHINGTON — Makers of certain opioid pain relievers including hydrocodone and oxycodone are being told by U.S. regulators to instruct doctors and patients they should consider alternative treatments first.
The instructions, part of an effort to combat addiction and misuse, will be required on the labels of extended release and long-acting opioids, the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday. New labels will indicate the drugs are only for people for whom alternatives are inadequate.
Prescription painkillers were involved in 14,800 overdose deaths in 2008, more than cocaine and heroin combined, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
By wire sources
