CAIRO – Clashes between rival soccer fans in the Egyptian city of Port Said killed at least 74 people Wednesday in the deadliest violence since the country’s autocratic president was ousted a year ago.
More than 200 were injured, according to the Egyptian health ministry.
The bloodshed brought into sharp focus how much security has deteriorated over the past year as the revolt and its continuing ripples have chipped away at the pillars of the police state that made Egypt an exceptionally safe nation in recent decades.
“How come there’s a match in Port Said and there’s known tension between the two teams’ fans and there are 12,000 spectators in the stadium and yet, there is no security?” parliament member Mohammad Abu Hamed said, speaking on state TV.
NATION
School’s silence over charges riles parents
Angry parents confronted school officials Wednesday, demanding to know why they weren’t told for a year that a Los Angeles teacher was suspected of photographing children in class for sexual thrills.
The clash came at a forum at Miramonte Elementary School to discuss the investigation of Mark Berndt, a third-grade teacher charged with committing lewd acts on 23 boys and girls, ages 6 to 10, between 2005 and 2010 at the campus where he taught for more than 30 years.
Berndt was removed from class work in January 2011 and fired within the month, but only parents of children identified as victims were told by authorities at that time of the investigation.
Berndt’s bail was raised to $23 million Wednesday as he appeared in court for the first time on the felony charges that could bring multiple life sentences if he is convicted.
House OKs bill to freeze federal pay
House Republicans have pushed through a bill that would freeze the wages of federal workers through 2013 and bar members of Congress from giving themselves raises.
Republican sponsors said their measure would save taxpayers $26 billion. It would not apply to military personnel. President Obama is expected to propose a 0.5 percent hike in federal employee wages in his 2013 budget.
New pill shrinks uterine fibroids
New research offers hope for the first pill to treat a common problem in women: fibroids in the uterus. The growths can cause pain, heavy bleeding and fertility problems, and they are the leading cause of hysterectomies.
Fibroids are benign growths in the uterus that are common in women during their childbearing years.
They usually go away after menopause. Treating fibroids isn’t easy. Removing the uterus is the only cure.
State’s high court takes Barbour case
The Mississippi Supreme Court said Wednesday that it would take up the legal challenge to the pardons ex-Gov. Haley Barbour gave in the last days in office.
State Attorney General Jim Hood, a Democrat, wants to invalidate dozens of the 198 pardons that Barbour, a Republican, handed out before his term ended Jan. 10. Ten of the people were still incarcerated at the time they got reprieves.
