FIRETRUCK KILLS BOY AS HE CROSSES QNS. STREET

September 3, 2006 -- An already sad day for the Fire Department turned tragic when a 12-year-old boy crossing a Queens street was killed by a firetruck racing to a call yesterday.

Michael Kandathil was heading from his uncle's house to that of his parents when he apparently slipped on the slick pavement of Hampton Street and was fatally struck, witnesses said.

Shaken firefighters leaped out of their rig and tried to revive the unconscious boy - as his hysterical mom was held back.

"She became pale when she saw her son," said a 35-year-old neighbor. "They didn't even let the mother get to him. She was screaming something in [Hindi]."

The FDNY truck's driver was also devastated, witnesses said.

"He was very sad and crying. The other firefighters had to hug him," said neighbor Gencis Florimon, 50. "He was in very bad shape."

The accident occurred on the same day that firefighters buried one of their own, Lt. Howie Carpluk, killed last Sunday in a Bronx fire that also claimed the life of rookie Michael Reilly.

"Obviously, it was a rough day for all of us already," one fireman said.

Michael was crossing Hampton Street near Whitney Avenue in Elmhurst at about 3 p.m., when he paused near a double-parked car in the middle of the street to look west, officials and witnesses said.

At the same time, Engine 289, with its lights and sirens on, was coming from the east. The driver couldn't see him.

Witnesses said that it looked as if Michael hesitated and that he may have slipped.

"He just went to get the mail, across the street," said his grief-stricken uncle, Joseph Kurian. "It happened in a split second. He had no chance; the impact was too much. He was dead on the spot."

"The kid was crossing the street, and he got scared," Florimon said. "He was trying to back up when the firetruck hit him on the side of the head."

Relatives described Michael as a bright boy who was about to enter the eighth grade at nearby St. Bartholomew's Catholic School.

His schoolmates gathered at the accident scene in front of his home to remember the altar boy, math whiz and basketball player.

"When I found out, I just couldn't believe it," said Chirag Jethanandani, 13. "He was the type that if you needed help, he'd go out of his way to help you."

Officials said that the boy's death was the result of a terrible accident but that they were still investigating.

One cop blamed the double-parked driver.

"You know who's at fault is the person who double-parked the car. That's why we give tickets to double-parked cars - to prevent things like this from happening," the officer said angrily.

FDNY spokesman Farrell Sklerov said, "The matter is under investigation. At this time, our thoughts and prayers are with the family."

Additional reporting by Hasani Gittens

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Hundreds of Italian Troops Land in Lebanon to Bolster UN Force

VOANEWS

United Nations vehicle driving ashore
United Nations vehicle driving ashore

Hundreds of additional Italian soldiers are arriving in Lebanon to reinforce the international peacekeeping force in the region.

Some 500 Italian troops arrived Saturday and 500 more are expected today Sunday, raising the total number of U.N. peacekeepers to 3,250.

The U.N. Security Council plans to deploy 15 thousand international troops on the Israeli - Lebanese border to monitor the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Indonesia announced Saturday that it has accepted a U.N. invitation and is planning to send one thousand troops to join the mission.

Israel has opposed help from from countries that do not have diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.

Indonesian presidential foreign policy advisor Dino Pati Djalal told VOA the U.N. invitation indicates Israel reversed its objections, but Israel has not commented on the announcement.

Also Sunday, Russia's defense minister, Sergei Ivanov, told the Itar-tass news agency that Moscow is willing to send army engineers -- but not peacekeeping troops -- to help rebuild Lebanon's infrastructure.

Malaysia and Bangladesh have also offered help, but neither has diplomatic relations with Israel, and their offer has not been formally accepted.

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Islamic extremists' love of hardcore porn

William Sparrow and agencies

So how does a pious Islamic extremist and potential terrorist pass the time? He watches hardcore porn. Investigators found that at least one of two Islamic extremist planning an attack on the US from Canada was in possession of hardcore pornography.

In Muslim societies the calls for all women to be covered completely and constant diatribes that sexual immorality is a threat to Islamic nations have become commonplace. Yet there is mounting evidence that terrorist extremists commonly view hardcore pornography.
Toronto-based TheStar.com recently reported that two men from the US state of Georgia met in the Canadian city with Islamic extremists to discuss potential terror strikes in the United States, including attacks on oil refineries and military bases, according to recently unsealed US court documents.

The documents say the pair met with at least three people, who are under international surveillance, to plot ways to disable the Global Positioning System, which would disrupt military and commercial communications and air traffic. They also discussed a trip to Pakistan to receive military training at a terrorist-sponsored camp.

US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent Michael Scherk, a member of the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Atlanta, says in a sworn affidavit that Eshanul Islam Sadequee, 19, of Roswell, Georgia, and Syed Haris Ahmed, 21, of Atlanta, made the trip to Toronto in March 2005.

Ahmed has been charged with suspicion of giving material support of terrorism and is being held at an undisclosed location. He pleaded not guilty during a brief court appearance in Georgia.

Sadequee is accused of making materially false statements in connection with a terrorist investigation, and he was arrested in Bangladesh, where he told the FBI that he had gone to get married.

Many would give pause to consider what his young bride would think of her husband's penchant for porn, when Islamic societies in almost all cases forbid it.

The US Attorney (federal prosecutor) in Georgia, David Nahmias, said in a statement that the charge against Ahmed is "serious and involves national security".

US Justice Department officials, however, said there was no immediate threat to any strategic US targets.

According to the court document, Sadequee and Ahmed traveled to Toronto from Atlanta on a Greyhound bus, leaving on March 6, 2005, and crossed the border back to the United States on March 12.

Sadequee is accused of lying to federal agents when he was detained at New York's John F Kennedy airport last August, saying he had traveled to Canada the previous January, staying with an aunt he identified as "Manju Auntie", but being unable to name her husband.

FBI agents confiscated computer hard drives and data CDs from their home last month.

Federal agents conducted a search of Sadequee's bags before he left for Bangladesh and found two CD-ROMS concealed in the lining of a suitcase. One disc contained encrypted files that FBI technical experts still cannot decode, the affidavit said, while the other CD contained a bootleg copy of a hardcore pornographic movie. Indeed, there was evidence uncovered by the 9/11 Commission after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US that indicated that ringleader Mohammed Atta and some of his co-conspirators viewed pornography and enjoyed the company of prostitutes, and they were rumored to use cocaine. "Radical Islamic extremists" seem to deviate from pious Muslim beliefs.

"They are also disillusioned in many cases," Nahmias said, and sometimes take up Islam "in the radical form".

"I do believe that when the time comes, a number of these people will attempt to do something quite serious."

He probably meant mass murder, not what too many religious leaders call "serious": enjoying the on-screen antics of Jenna Jameson.

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Korea's first Sexpo gets underway in Seoul


Models pose for a photo to promote the first 2006 Seoul Sex Education Expo at the Millennium Seoul Hilton in Seoul.

The 2006 Seoul Sex Education Expo, which ostensibly seeks to enlighten the public about sexual health, will run Thursday to Sunday at the SETEC in Daechidong, Seoul.

The 2006 Seoul Sexpo will feature seminars on sex, medical consultations, exhibitions of sex toys and accessories, lingerie fashion show, strip shows, a nude photo zone, kissing competitions and other events that provide visitors with the opportunity to experience most of what the adult industry has to offer, the sponsors say.

For the expo, 11 famous nude models including Penthouse Pets and Hustler models have come to Korea, and met the press at a promotional event on Tuesday. The original Sexpo has been held in Australia for 10 years now as an event for the adult industry to exhibit itself, and has also now spread to Singapore and other countries.
The Seoul Sexpo, which has the domestic rights, says it hopes to "provide accurate information about sex, foster a more open approach towards sex, and search for a means of revitalizing the flagging domestic adult industry." Critics say the event is just a pretext to flog pornography. Those over 19 years of age may attend for W15,000 (US$1=W961).


The nude photo zone, where entrants can admire nudes from the leading adult magazines and even take pictures with glamour models, will cost an additional W20,000. "Sex shouldn't be handled in a secretive, closed-off manner any more," the organizers say, adding the expo aims to anchor a "healthy sex culture." They appealed to the public to approach it with an open mind.

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