Suspected accomplice in Akkar rape, murder arrested

BEIRUT: A suspected accomplice of the Lebanese minor accused of raping and killing a Syrian boy in north Lebanon’s Akkar was arrested Monday, security sources told The Daily Star.

The Halba police arrested the suspect, identified as J.M., on suspicion that he took part in the rape and killing of 5-year-old Mohammad al-Khawli, the sources said.

The police are interrogating the suspect, the sources added.

Khawli’s body was found Sunday in a dumpster at the entrance of a school in the Akkar village of Halba.

The boy's body, which had been stabbed five times in his waist, was found in a box, his head covered with a black bag.

The main suspect in the offense, a 17-year-old Lebanese boy identified as N.A., was apprehended by the authorities and has confessed to committing the crime.

Boots on the ground: A look at World Cup cleats

By ANNE M. PETERSON The Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Nike, adidas, Puma and other shoemakers are all trotting out new and innovative looks for this summer's World Cup. Gone are the old-school black boots like the fabled Puma Kings worn by Pele.

Legend has it that Pele was paid $125,000 for his deal — a paltry sum by today's standards — to wear the boots starting with the 1970 World Cup. The contract was sealed in the final between Brazil and Italy when Pele asked a referee for a moment so he could tie his shoe — guaranteeing that the TV cameras were pointed at his Pumas.

Now shoe deals are part of the game for every star and even some average players. Cristiano Ronaldo wears Nike. Lionel Messi wears adidas. Puma and Mizuno have their own athletes. So when the World Cup opens in Brazil on Thursday, there will be a clash of competing cleats on the pitch with everyone trying to get a leg up on the other guy.

Here are five things to know about the boots on the ground in Brazil:

WHAT THE HECK? Puma is pushing the envelope by putting its athletes in one pink shoe and one blue shoe. Apparently, this will make it easier to tell which foot that player delivers goals with: Pink is right and blue is left. Look for Spain's Cesc Fabregas and Italy's Mario Balotelli in the boots. "I have to be honest, the first time I saw the Tricks boots, I thought the Puma guy was mad," Balotelli is quoted as saying. "But when I realized he wasn't, I was already excited."

SHOES OR SOCKS? Nike's statement for the World Cup is its new Magista and Mercurial soccer boots that use the company's fly-knit technology, which basically looks like cleats attached to a pair of socks. Cristiano Ronaldo is going to be wearing the Mercurial Superfly, a high-top version with a cool name. "The way we think about product innovation is really about serving athletes and really about how we can help people reach their true potential," said Phil McCartney, vice president of global soccer for Nike. "I think the product we're going to have on the pitch in the World Cup is a really good example of that. It's a four-year journey we've taken to really help our athletes reach their potential in what will be the biggest moment of their careers and lives."

ADIDAS GOES RETRO: Adidas is offering the back-and-white Battle Pack collection of four different cleats, featuring prints that are supposed to pay homage to Brazil — the only pop of color is the trademark three stripes in neon orange. An exception was made for Messi, who gets the star treatment with his own design and a bit of added Argentina blue on his F50s. "It's the biggest tournament on the biggest stage. It's win or go home. It's black or white. So that's why you see the black and white execution on the shoes," adidas merchandise manager Peter Hong said.

GOLDEN BOOT: The top goal scorer at the World Cup receives the Golden Boot award. But at least one player will already have his golden boots: Mizuno has designed special gold-and-black Wave Ignitus 3s for Keisuke Honda of Japan. It's only fitting for a player whose nickname is "Emperor Keisuke." There are rumors that Nike may put Brazilian star Neymar in a pair of special gold HyperVenom cleats, but the Oregon-based shoemaker would not comment about possible World Cup "surprises."

SHINE A LIGHT: Ecuador goalkeeper Maximo Banguera will be wearing Lotto Solista boots that have a special skin that reflects light, which the Italian shoemaker claims causes the shoes to "glow" in direct sunshine or under bright lights. We'll let you be the judge. There are a number of YouTube videos demonstrating the effect.

Trial that could reshape college athletics begins

Some believe it could upend the way college sports operate. Others say Ed O'Bannon's legal crusade against the NCAA already has.

Five years after the former UCLA star filed his antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA, it goes to trial Monday in a California courtroom. The stakes are high in the biggest challenge yet to the NCAA's authority to operate college sports at a time when big money makes so-called "amateur" sports look an awful lot like the pros.

Here's a look at the issues surrounding the case:

Q: What is this trial about?

A: The NCAA is being sued by O'Bannon and others over the use of their images in broadcasts and video games without compensation. They will argue at trial that the NCAA has acted as a cartel in violation of federal antitrust laws by conspiring to keep players from making money while at the same time pocketing billions of dollars in big television contracts. The NCAA contends that rules on "amateurism" are necessary to retain competitive balance and that a successful lawsuit could create a free-for-all that will seriously damage college athletics.

Q: What are the plaintiffs asking for?

A: In the short term, not much. The 20 named plaintiffs dropped their demands for money in damages a few weeks before the trial in a strategic move to narrow the scope of the case. But they are asking for the judge to rule in their favor and issue an injunction that would prohibit the NCAA from enforcing rules against paying players for the use of their images in broadcasts. Lawyers for the plaintiffs will also argue they deserve reimbursement for legal fees that they said exceeded $30 million even before the trial. "Just to get to trial alone is huge," said Jon King, an attorney handling several related cases. "To obtain an injunction will be revolutionary."

Q: Why would a win be so important?

A: This is the first time a challenge to the way the NCAA operates has gotten this far. It is part of a broader effort to change the way major college sports are operated that includes several other lawsuits challenging various NCAA regulations and a unionization effort that won a vote for football players at Northwestern earlier this year. Plaintiffs and others claim that there is no real amateurism in a college sports industry where coaches make millions, administrators are well paid and everyone profits except the athletes providing the labor. "O'Bannon represents a watershed moment for the NCAA," said Northeastern University School of Law professor Roger Abrams, an expert in sports and antitrust law. "When combined with the Northwestern football team unionization effort, the case raises the question whether the NCAA must totally re-conceptualize its approach to regulating college athletics."

Q: What will we find out during trial?

A: There will be a lot of testimony about the huge amounts of money coming into college sports, literally billions of dollars for the conferences and the NCAA from television rights deals. At least two conferences — The Big 12 and Conference USA — made last-minute challenges in court to keep their television deals secret, arguing they would be at a competitive disadvantage if other conferences and schools knew exactly what the terms of those deals are. There will also be testimony on the NCAA side about the many benefits athletes get while in college, including tuition, room and board, and tutors to help them get degrees.

Q: Will other athletes, say swimmers or golfers, get something from this?

A: No, the class-action suit is limited to football players and Division I basketball players. Those two sports are the biggest revenue generators for colleges.

Q: Why haven't they settled?

A: The NCAA says it can't budge on the fundamental question of paying players, because doing so would upend the model of college sports. The organization also believes many of the lawsuits are lawyer-driven and says athletes are treated better than ever and happier than ever. The plaintiffs did reach a separate settlement with videogame maker EA Sports and Collegiate Licensing Co. for $40 million that will allow some payments to former players. The NCAA dismissed that by saying "the real benefactors of this settlement are the lawyers, who could pocket more than $15 million."

Q: Will this lead to pay-for-play in college sports?

A: Not right away, though the pressure brought by unionization attempts and lawsuits already has led to proposals for the five biggest college conferences to increase scholarship money and change other rules to benefit athletes. Attorneys for the plaintiffs say the whole college sports system doesn't need to be blown up, but there are remedies that will help athletes prosper while at the same time keeping a structure to control college athletics. They're suggesting the establishment of a trust funded by the NCAA and its schools that would take money for the use of player images and dole it out to individual players — but only after they're done with school. "Notwithstanding the NCAA's conjecture that the sky will fall, an unfettered market will not bring college athletics to a halt," attorneys for the plaintiffs wrote in a trial brief.

Workshop focuses on emergencies, business

WALKER, La. -- Southeastern Louisiana University's Small Business Development Center and the Livingston Economic Development Council will offer a workshop for businesses to help them prepare for emergencies that could interrupt their trades.

The free session is set for June 26 from 9 a.m.-noon at the Livingston Parish Literacy and Technology Center, 9261 Florida Blvd. in Walker.

Presentations will include gauging business readiness, creating a continuity plan, selecting appropriate insurance coverage, data security and crisis communications.

Pre-registration is requested and can be made online at www.lsbdc.org.

More information is available by calling the business center at 225-664-6638.

FBI Director Comey Looks Ahead To His Next Nine Years

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hide captionFBI director James Comey wants the agency to get better at preventing crimes and improve diversity. He has another nine years and three months to do that.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

FBI director James Comey wants the agency to get better at preventing crimes and improve diversity. He has another nine years and three months to do that.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

FBI Director Jim Comey brushed back a dark curtain last Thursday morning and emerged to greet his audience, Tonight Show style.

"I feel like a talk show host," Comey told a group of new recruits, the first hired on his watch since he joined the FBI nine months ago.

The FBI director serves for a decade, longer than the president who appointed him, and longer than any other member of the national security establishment. That tenure's designed to insulate the FBI from political influence. But it also gives the bureau's leader the time to put his stamp on an organization that's meant to disrupt terror plots and root out corruption.

That effort is now underway, and it's significant enough to send Comey to the academy in Quantico, Va., where about 50 new agents and another 28 intelligence analysts-in-training fill half the auditorium. He wants to deliver a message about integrity, bravery and judgment.

"You're gonna get to see a lot of bad things in this work, a lot of pain you're gonna absorb," Comey said. "You're gonna help a lot of people and in the course of helping them you're going to be touched by some of the pain and suffering they've endured. I need you to look after yourselves."

FBI Director As Emergency Foster Parent

After his chat with trainees, a reporter asked the FBI director what he does off the clock to stay centered. One answer: he and his wife have been helping as emergency foster parents.

"Little boy who came to us born a month premature in a homeless shelter to a drug-addicted mother and born in very very difficult circumstances so we got him right out of the hospital," Comey said.

The baby's doing well. He's been placed with an adoptive mom but Comey and his wife, Patrice, still watch the boy a couple times a week.

"And we've stayed very close. We'll look after him his whole life," Comey said. "It is absolutely true that as a foster parent that you in a lot of ways get more out of it than you put into it."

Leaving His Mark on the FBI

These days, Comey's pouring most of himself into charting a course for the FBI. He's on track to hire 1,500 people by October to fill positions that stayed empty during the recent federal budget crunch. And he's starting to make an imprint on some of the most important jobs in the FBI, installing more than a dozen new leaders in cities around the country and 11 more key staffers at headquarters.

The new executive assistant director of the national security branch, Andrew McCabe, once led a team that questions high value terrorism suspects. The new assistant director of the counterterrorism division, John Giacalone, helped command and coordinate FBI agents and intelligence operatives in Iraq. And in Miami, the new special agent in charge is George Piro, the man who interrogated former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Many of the newly promoted leaders have backgrounds in the military and advanced degrees in law or history.

But Comey says the FBI still has a long way to go on diversity. In 2001, the bureau settled a huge discrimination case filed by African American agents. Another lawsuit filed by a female supervisor in Seattle, brought before Comey arrived, is still moving through the courts.

"I'm very fond of slightly geeky 6 [foot] 8 white guys from the Northeast — cause I am one. But if I have a table that's just filled with me's, I'm not being advised, directed, challenged, the way I need to be," Comey said.

Back in the auditorium in Quantico, Comey said the new agents and analysts would be learning more about FBI history in the coming weeks. Not just the decades-long reign of J. Edgar Hoover, but also some of the abuses carried out in his name.

That history is troubling enough that the new FBI director is adding a stop on the recruits' annual trip to DC's monuments. After visiting the Holocaust museum, they'll go to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, to reflect on how the FBI misused its power to harass the civil rights icon. Comey said he'll go along too, to make sure the trainees understand the lesson he's trying to impart.

There's room for improvement, too, Comey told his recruits, on the intelligence front.

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Outgoing FBI Boss On His Legacy And What Kept Him Up At Night

After the Sept. 11 attacks, Comey's predecessor, Robert Mueller, devoted himself to turning an agency created to arrest bank robbers into an organization that focuses on preventing crime before it happens.

"Bob Mueller began the transformation of this organization after 9-11 to make sure that intelligence was part of all of our operations," Comey said. "We've made tremendous strides there; I've been traveling all over the country trying to figure out how it's going. And my answer is it's going pretty well, but not good enough."

Finding clues and sharing that information — within the FBI and among state and local police — is a centerpiece of that transformation. But a recent watchdog report identified failings there — failings revealed in an investigation after the Boston marathon bombing. The report said federal agents on a terrorism task force had been scribbling information on sticky notes, not exactly conducive to good communications.

Comey says that problem's already been fixed. But he wants to make sure the FBI is prepared to identify and focus on the biggest threats, not just the easy stuff in the inbox. He's got nine years and three months more to make that happen.

Police outside sectarian, political divisions

BEIRUT: Internal Security Forces head Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous says Monday that Lebanon’s police are outside sectarian and political divisions, vowing to keep working for the nation while the country's interior minister called for a new "security culture".

“We can assure that we are staying away from sectarian divisions and are not biased to any political stances,” Basbous said, speaking during a ceremony to celebrate the 153rd anniversary of the police.

“The Internal Security Forces will remain in service of the nation and its honest citizens, it will not however tolerate outlaws and will strike violators with an iron fist,” the official said.

“We achieve victory for the unjust and we do not fear the tyrant,” he said.

The ceremony was held in Dbayyeh, north of Beirut, at the Wissam al-Hasan barracks and attended by Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk and other senior officials.

Both Machnouk and Basbous laid a wreath on the ISF Martyrs’ Monument and the police members held a parade.

Basbous said that the police, with the help of the Army, were able to implement several security plans and arrest terrorist cells and criminal gangs.

Machnouk hailed the cooperation between the police and the military, and the role and achievements of the police.

“You were and will remain the safety valve for all Lebanese, the Lebanese will remember your battles against terrorism and your efforts to dismantle terrorist cells and prevent Lebanon from deteriorating,” he said.

“I also hail the cooperation between the army and the police to protect the country,” Machnouk said.

The minister said that the political divisions in the country have affected the police and called for a new “security culture” in Lebanon.

“Due to the political conflict, the Internal Security Forces was placed in a position where it had to defend itself instead of defending people,” he said.

“These times are gone and there is a lot riding on you to continue and develop your path. You are capable of establishing a new security culture with your achievements,” the minister said.

Machnouk also said he would exert all efforts to resolve the problem of Lebanese prisons. “I will knock every Arab and international door to achieve modern prisons in the country,” he said.

Lebanon witnessed several security challenges in the last two years, mostly linked to the Syrian crisis, which included booby-trapped cars, kidnappings and long intermittent clashes in the northern city of Tripoli.

For his part, ISF spokesman Col. Joseph Moussallem said that Lebanon’s police aim to serve the people and provide security for citizens.

“It is not easy for the institution of the police to celebrate its steadfastness after all these years,” he said. “We recall today both the pain of suffering and the joy of achievement, and we reaffirm our role in protecting public freedoms,” Moussallem said. “We are keen on preserving the history of our message,” he said.

Initially established in 1861 under Ottoman rule, the ISF has evolved and grown over the last 153 years.

Before 1861, Lebanese emirs used their armed men to provide security and enforce laws. The ISF was set up with backing from world powers in 1861 following the end of 20 years of sectarian violence in Mount Lebanon between the Druze and Maronite communities.

Company creates blanket for tornado protection

OKLAHOMA CITY -- An Oklahoma company has created a protective blanket that developers say could give children a better chance of surviving debris from a tornado — or bullets from a 9 mm handgun.

The Bodyguard Blanket, made by ProTecht, is a bulletproof pad designed to protect students during disasters at school. The 5/16-inch thick rectangle features backpack-like straps that allow users to put it on, and then duck and cover.

Steve Walker developed the pad, The Oklahoman reported (http://bit.ly/1k9KEj9 ). Walker started on the idea after a massive tornado struck last year in Moore, killing 24 people including seven children inside an elementary school that didn't have a tornado shelter.

"We're trying to stop that blunt-force trauma when that rubble is falling down on a child, for instance," said Walker, a podiatrist from Edmond.

He gave a sketch of the protective blanket to Stan Schone, an inventor and one of his patients, during an appointment. The two form half of the executive team at ProTecht. The others are Jeff Quinn and Jay Hanan.

Hanan is an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa. He introduced the team to Dyneema, a high-density plastic used for ballistic armor that is lighter than Kevlar.

The new material also protects against nails, shards of metal and other sharp objects.

"Instead of bending over and hoping for the best, they're afforded an extra layer of protection," Schone said.

At $1,000 per blanket, he and others with the company say buying one per student would be less expensive than building tornado shelters.

"By no means would we ever say that this is more protective," Walker said. "But when you have budget constraints, this might be a viable alternative."

ProTecht took a finished blanket to a shooting range and had it subjected to a National Institute of Justice Class 3A test, which is used to test body armor for police units. The classification implies protection against various projectiles, including 9 mm and .22-caliber bullets. It passed, Schone said.

The blanket has been in production for about 10 months, and the team started marketing it about a week ago, he said.