Posted Sunday, August 5, 2012 --- 7:40 a.m.
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today
1. HOSPITAL SHOOTING
Ohio man shoots wife of 45 years in hospital ICU
AKRON, Ohio (AP) — Ohio police say a 66-year-old man entered the intensive care unit of Akron General Medical Center and shot his 65-year-old wife while standing at her bedside.
Akron police told The Associated Press early Sunday that the woman is in critical condition.
Police say John Wise, of Massillon, entered the hospital shortly before 9 p.m. Saturday and went to see his wife, Barbara, in the intensive care unit, where she had been admitted a few days earlier. Authorities say Wise pulled out a handgun and shot his wife of 45 years.
Hospital spokesman Jim Gosky says one shot was fired.
Hospital security apprehended Wise, and police say no one else was injured. There was no immediate word on a motive.
Police say Wise was being held for attempted murder, and is expected to be arraigned Monday.
2. CLINTON-SYRIA
Clinton heading to Turkey for Syria talks
LILONGWE, Malawi (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will visit Istanbul later this week for talks with Turkish officials over the worsening crisis in Syria.
The State Department said Sunday that Clinton would travel to Istanbul for discussions with the Turkish government on Syria as well as other timely issues. The talks are scheduled for Saturday.
Clinton is adding the stop in Turkey to her lengthy tour of Africa. She's also added stops in Nigeria and Benin to her Africa trip.
3. SYRIA
Syria rebel video claims to show abducted Iranians
BEIRUT (AP) — A pan-Arab television station has aired a video purportedly showing Syrian rebels with a group of Iranians abducted a day earlier just outside Damascus.
The footage shown Sunday on the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya shows men identified as the Iranians sitting on the ground surrounded by fighters who said they were from the "Baraa Brigades."
A rebel claims in the video that the captives include an officer of Iran's Revolutionary Guards and that the group was on a "reconnaissance mission."
Iran's state-run news agency SANA said the 48 abducted Saturday were pilgrims. It said Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi spoke on the phone with Turkish and Qatari foreign ministers and demanded their intervention to help release them.
4. OKLAHOMA WILDFIRES
Okla. fires: dozens of homes burn, evacuations
LUTHER, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma authorities say more people evacuated today and several state roads remain closed due to wildfires raging in the drought-stricken countryside.
One roaring fire near Luther, about 25 miles northeast of Oklahoma City, destroyed nearly five dozen homes and other buildings before firefighters gained a measure of control yesterday. Authorities continue to investigate whether that fire was deliberately set.
Mike Donegan, a communications supervisor with the Oklahoma State Highway Patrol had no immediate details on the numbers forced from their homes but said officers were going door to door in certain communities.
The Luther fire was one of at least 10 burning Saturday in Oklahoma, where a severe drought has settled on the countryside in a summer in which temperatures have topped 110 degrees in spots.
The cause of the other fires remains undetermined.
5. TROPICAL WEATHER
Tropical Storm Ernesto heading nearer to Jamaica
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Long lines formed at grocery stores in Kingston, Jamaica, ahead of Tropical Storm Ernesto's expected arrival today.
People stocked up on drinking water, bread and canned goods.
The storm is expected to pass south of the island but the forecast calls for three to six inches of rain. Another tropical storm is swirling far out to sea.
The National Hurricane Center says little change in strength is expected throughout today though slow strengthening is expected tomorrow as Ernesto treks across the Caribbean.
Forecasters say Ernesto could still grow into a hurricane in coming days as it continues along a course forecast to take it over the coastal resorts of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula by Wednesday.
6. EUROPE-FINANCIAL CRISIS
NEW: Monti warns euro crisis threatens EU as a whole
BERLIN (AP) — Italy's prime minister says the eurozone's sprawling debt crisis is creating tensions that could ultimately trigger a breakup of the wider European Union.
German news magazine Der Spiegel on Sunday quoted Mario Monti as saying in an interview that "the tensions accompanying the eurozone over the past years already bear the signs of a psychological dissolution of Europe."
Monti further told the magazine that the euro's disintegration would "destroy the founding of the European project."
Seventeen of the EU's 27 nations use the euro currency.
Italy, the eurozone's third-largest economy, has been hit hard by rising borrowing cost on its government debt.
Monti is lobbying for bolder political steps and help from the European Central Bank to counter the crisis, but some rescue measures are opposed by Germany and others.
7. ISRAEL-IRAN
NEW: Israel upgrades missile defense system
JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli Defense Ministry official confirms the country has upgraded its top-tier Arrow II missile defense system, as it girds for possible attacks from Iran and Syria.
The official confirmed Sunday that sensors, command and control equipment and radar have been enhanced to improve reach and accuracy. He did not elaborate and spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss military preparations.
Israel has developed a network of air defense systems to parry an array of threats, including the Arrow, a joint project with the U.S. designed to shoot down incoming missiles launched as far away as Iran.
Israel regards Iran as its main enemy, and suspects Tehran is building nuclear weapons despite its denials.
Israel is also worried about a chemical weapons attack from Syria.
8. SOUTH AFRICA-SHOOTING
NEW: 5 killed, 17 wounded in South Africa shooting
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Police in South Africa say five people have been killed and 17 others injured in a shooting at a coming-of-age ceremony in rural eastern South Africa.
Police Col. Jay Naicker said Sunday that the attack happened in KwaZulu-Natal province in a rural, quiet community without a history of political violence or armed robbery. Naicker said the shooting occurred Saturday during a coming-of-age ceremony for young men in the area.
Naicker said police believe the gunmen who carried out the attack likely come from that area, though detectives were continuing their investigation Sunday afternoon. The colonel said police sent in reinforcements to the area as well.
9. AFGHANISTAN
NATO: Airstrikes kill 3 al-Qaida Afghan leaders
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The international military coalition in Afghanistan says it has killed three local al-Qaida leaders in airstrikes.
NATO said Sunday that the terror network's chief for the eastern province of Kunar, known as Mufti Assad, died along with his deputy Friday. It says Assad was an explosives expert who coordinated al-Qaida attacks in the area and trained Taliban insurgents to build roadside bombs.
The coalition said the airstrike did not injure any civilians.
It said a second strike in the same area killed another al-Qaida figure, Fatah Gul, who ran insurgent training camps.
International forces have been waging an aggressive campaign to hunt down Taliban and al-Qaida leaders, hoping to weaken the network ahead of the last combat troops' withdrawal by the end of 2014.
10. YEMEN
Yemen: Toll from funeral bombing more than 30
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen's state news agency says the death toll from a suspected al-Qaida suicide bomb attack on a funeral service in a southern city has risen to more than 30 people.
SABA said Sunday that another 40 people were injured in the bombing late Saturday in Jaar. It said most of the victims were members of the civilian militias that helped the army in a campaign against al-Qaida that recaptured Jaar from militants in June after two months of fighting. Earlier reports said 15 were killed.
Al-Qaida-affiliated militants took control of wide swaths of the south in 2011 during the country's popular uprising.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
