Chinese victim of Marathon blasts remembered

FBI: No ricin found in home of Mississippi suspect

Associated Press/Rogelio V. Solis - Federal agents wearing hazardous material suits and breathing apparatus inspect the home and possessions in the West Hills Subdivision house of Paul Kevin Curtis in Corinth, Miss., Friday, April 19, 2013. Curtis is in custody under the suspicion of sending letters covered in ricin to the U.S. President Barack Obama and U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Jack Curtis, brother of Paul Kevin Curtis, speaks outside of federal court in Oxford, Miss. on Monday, April 22, 2013. Paul Kevin Curtis is in custody under the suspicion of sending letters which tested positive for ricin to U.S. President Barack Obama and U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss. (AP Photo/Oxford Eagle, Bruce Newman) NO SALES

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Investigators haven't found any ricin in the house of a Mississippi man accused of mailing poisoned letters to President Barack Obama, a U.S. senator and a local judge, according to testimony Monday from an FBI agent.

Agent Brandon Grant said that a search of Paul Kevin Curtis' vehicle and house in Corinth, Miss., on Friday did not turn up ricin, ingredients for the poison, or devices used to make it. A search of Curtis' computers has found no evidence so far that he researched making ricin.

Defense lawyers for Curtis say investigators' failure to find any ricin means the government should release their client. That lack of physical evidence could loom large as a detention and preliminary hearing continues Tuesday morning. U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Allan Alexander ended the hearing after lunch Monday, citing a personal schedule conflict.

Through his lawyer, Curtis has denied involvement in letters sent to Obama, Mississippi Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, and a Lee County, Miss., judge. The first of the letters was found April 15.

"There was no apparent ricin, castor beans or any material there that could be used for the manufacturing, like a blender or something," Grant testified. He speculated that Curtis could have thrown away the processor. Grant said computer technicians are now doing a "deep dive" on the suspect's computers after initially finding no "dirty words" indicating Curtis had searched for information on ricin.

Christi McCoy, who is leading the defense for Curtis, said the government doesn't have probable cause to hold her client and his history of problems related to bipolar disorder are not enough to keep him in jail.

"The searches are concluded, not one single shred of evidence was found to indicate Kevin could have done this," McCoy told reporters after the hearing.

She questioned why Curtis would have signed the letters "I am KC and I approve this message," a phrase he had used on his Facebook page, and then thrown away a processor used to grind castor beans. And she said that in any event, Curtis is not enough of an imminent danger or flight risk to justify holding him without bail.

"If they continue to demand his incarceration, it's basically bad faith," McCoy said. "Now, surely they are satisfied that there is no immediate threat from Kevin Curtis, and we want him released."

McCoy said in court that someone may have framed Curtis, suggesting that a former business associate of Curtis' brother, a man with whom Curtis had an extended exchange of angry emails, may have set him up.

Still, Grant testified that authorities believe that they have the right suspect.

"Given the right mindset and the Internet and the acquisition of material, other people could be involved. However, given information right now, we believe we have the right individual," he said.

Grant said lab analysis shows the poison is a crude form that could have been created by grinding castor beans in a food processor or coffee grinder.

"That would be a low-tech way of doing it. You're just blending up the beans to get the ricin that's on the inside on the outside," Grant testified.

The detention and preliminary hearing began Friday in U.S. District Court in Oxford, Miss. More witnesses besides Grant are expected Tuesday.

Federal investigators believe the letters were mailed by Curtis, an Elvis impersonator who family members say suffers from bipolar disorder. He wore an orange jumpsuit from the Lafayette County Detention Center in court Monday, and was quiet and attentive, sometimes whispering to McCoy.

Grant testified Monday that processing codes printed on the letter indicated they had been mailed from Tupelo, and that investigators were still trying to figure out from the codes exactly where they had been mailed from.

Grant testified Friday that authorities tried to track down the sender of the letters by using a list of Wicker's constituents with the initials KC, the same initials in the letters. Grant said the list was whittled from thousands to about 100 when investigators isolated the ones who lived in an area that would have a Memphis, Tenn., postmark, which includes many places in north Mississippi. He said Wicker's staff recognized Curtis as someone who had written the senator before.

Grant also testified that there were indentations on the letters from where someone had written on another envelope that had been on top of them in a stack.

The indentations were analyzed under a light source and turned out to be for Curtis' former addresses in Booneville and Tupelo, though the street name in one of the addresses was spelled wrong, Grant said.

All the envelopes and stamps were self-adhesive, Grant said Monday, meaning they won't yield DNA evidence. He said thus far the envelopes and letters haven't yielded any fingerprints.

McCoy said the evidence linking the 45-year-old to the crime has hinged on his writings posted online, which were accessible to anyone.

Much of Monday's testimony focused on Curtis' prior run-ins with police and evidence about his mental health.

"The fact that this man may be suffering from a form of mental illness, how does this make it make it more likely than not that Mr. Curtis committed to these crimes?" McCoy asked.

Grant said that it didn't, but said past evidence about mental state, "helps establish a potential behavior background for Mr. Curtis, perhaps not realizing what he's doing."

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Suburbs now playing a key role in gun legislation

QUAKERTOWN, Pa. (AP) — In the emotional politics of gun control, the suburbs seem to be emerging as a new sphere of influence.

The Senate's defeat last week of firearms restrictions underscored the nation's shifting demographics and a pronounced divide on the gun issue between Americans in rural areas and residents of suburban enclaves, like Quakertown, outside Philadelphia.

Packed with married women and political independents, vote-rich communities like these are starting — in the wake of a string of shooting massacres — to act more like urban centers that long have been concerned with the threat of local gun violence and have favored stricter laws. Those include the expansion of background checks, viewed by gun control advocates as a way to prevent criminals and the mentally ill from buying firearms.

Like most Pennsylvania voters, Lisa Inglis, 43, a stay-at-home mom of two from the Philadelphia suburbs, is a supporter of expanded checks of gun buyers, part of the legislation defeated last week. She said she was very disappointed by the Senate action, though she also questioned whether such measures would prevent many crimes.

"The reality hits you that nobody can keep anybody safe. You really depend on the stability of other people's thinking. You just hope for the best," said Inglis, eating at John's Plain & Fancy Diner in Quakertown, about 45 miles north of Philadelphia.

Voters like her in suburbs like this are a big reason why a handful of Republican lawmakers broke ranks with the GOP last week to support the expanded checks, raising the possibility that gun control could end up becoming more acceptable to other Republicans as suburbs in swing-voting states swell and push farther into rural areas where people cherish their gun rights.

Four Republicans backed the proposal, including three — Sens. Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania, Mark Kirk of Illinois and John McCain of Arizona — where suburbs play a strong role in their home states' politics. The proposal also won support from Democrats such as Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine and Colorado Sens. Michael Bennet and Mark Udall, two states that are home to many hunters living in rural areas — but also to booming suburbs outside Washington and Denver.

To be sure, rural interests still play a powerful role in Congress, and the gun vote showed how small states can shape the debate. Democrats representing rural states bucked members of their party and President Barack Obama to help scuttle the legislation. Among Democrats, five opposed the plan, including rural state lawmakers like Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Mark Begich of Alaska and Max Baucus of Montana, all of whom face the voters next year.

Polling bears out the geographic divide.

In the months since the deadly Newtown, Conn., elementary school shooting, polls showed an overwhelming support for expanding background checks and strong sentiment for tighter gun measures among women. An Associated Press-GfK poll this month found that 52 percent of people living in suburban areas supported stricter gun laws compared with 41 percent rural residents. An additional 44 percent who live in rural areas say gun laws should remain the same, 13 percent think they should be made less strict.

The poll found that 58 percent of women favored stricter gun laws, compared with 41 percent of men. The difference held up across party lines, though 34 percent of Republican women supported stricter gun laws compared with 80 percent of Democratic women.

Republicans said many GOP members were challenged by the larger context of Obama's agenda — including likely votes ahead on immigration and growing support in the nation for gay marriage. "They can't go all in. They have to pick and choose," said Chip Felkel, a South Carolina-based Republican strategist. "The NRA doesn't want to give an inch on anything because they think it's the beginning of the slide."

Toomey's role offered an apt case study. A reliable conservative and former head of the free-market advocacy group Club for Growth, Toomey joined forces with West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin to push for expanded background checks. Toomey has garnered strong ratings from the National Rifle Association but faces re-election in 2016, a presidential year in which elections in his home state tend to pivot on voters in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh suburbs.

Inglis, of Quakertown, calls herself a "liberal Republican" — she voted for Obama twice and Toomey in 2010 — and she credited Toomey with picking "the right issue to break out of his mold on." She said it made her view him as a pragmatist working to solve problems.

Bob Linquist, 73, a retired utility worker from Quakertown, used to belong to the NRA but dropped his membership because of the group's views on military-style assault weapons, which he believes do not belong in private hands. Linquist, a Democrat who sometimes votes Republican, said he supported Toomey's position on background checks even though he questioned whether it would solve the problem and thought it was politically calculated.

"Politicians don't always stand up for their country or ideologically what's right or morally right. They worry about their job," Linquist said.

Toomey sought to explain his position to a gathering of conservatives during the weekend. "My hope is that we can agree to disagree on this and move on to the many, many areas on which we agree," he told the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference in Camp Hill.

Terry Madonna, a pollster and political scientist at Franklin & Marshall College, said that with more than 9 in 10 Pennsylvanians supporting universal background checks, Toomey staked out a very safe political position. He said Toomey's bill was probably designed to appeal to swing voters in suburban Philadelphia, noting that "the largest area of support for gun control measures comes from the Philly suburbs."

The pressure points on the bill were found in the suburbs. A gun-control group backed by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg focused its persuasion campaign — with mixed results — on areas represented by Republicans that include pivotal suburbs. The organization, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, aired ads in Philadelphia, Phoenix, Atlanta, Las Vegas and parts of Ohio.

Despite the measure's failure, some Democrats view it as evidence of how the issue has taken hold of suburban voters.

"Pat Toomey is no moderate. The fact that he's doing it in the state he's from tells you the power of the suburbs," said Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., who represents a suburban district outside Washington.

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Thomas reported from Washington.

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‘Confusing Terrorists with Their Victims’: Kerry Slammed for Comparing Families of Gaza Flotilla Incident with Boston Bombing Families

TURKEY-US-DIPLOMACY

Secretary of State John F. Kerry speaks during a news conference in Istanbul. (Photo: Bulent Kilic, Getty Images, April 21, 2013)

Israelis have been commenting all week about how the Boston Marathon bombing was a bonding moment for Americans and Israelis, who have had too much experience with terrorist attacks in their major cities.

That idea apparently doesn't resonate with Secretary of State John Kerry who at a press conference over the weekend compared families mourning those killed in Boston last Monday with the families of pro-Palestinian Turkish activists killed by the Israeli Defense Forces aboard the Mavi Marmara, a boat involved in the 2010 Gaza flotilla.

Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon was quick to slam Kerry over his word choice. "It is never helpful when a moral equivalency is made confusing terrorists with their victims," Danon told The Times of Israel on Monday.

"As our American friends were made all too aware once again last week, the only way to deal with the evils of terrorism it to wage an unrelenting war against its perpetrators wherever they may be," added Danon, who is a member ofPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party.

Pundits expressed shock that Kerry would equate terrorists with innocent victims, including the slain eight-year-old Martin Richard.

At a press conference in Istanbul on Sunday, Kerry commented on efforts to bridge relations between Israel and Turkey. That's when he made the controversial comments. According to the official State Department transcript, he said:

I think Turkey is working in very good faith to get there. I know it's an emotional issue with some people. I particularly say to the families of people who were lost in the incident we understand these tragedies completely and we sympathize with them. And nobody - I mean, I have just been through the week of Boston and I have deep feelings for what happens when you have violence and something happens and you lose people that are near and dear to you. It affects a community, it affects a country. We're very sensitive to that.

But going forward, we have to find the best way to bring people together to reduce tensions and undo the stereotypes that divide people and try to make peace.

Middle East expert Barry Rubin, Director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center, tells TheBlaze, "To call Kerry's statement incredibly ignorant, insulting to Israel, and counterproductive is an understatement. Those killed on the Mavi Marmara were terrorists, aiding a group (Hamas) like those who committed the Boston atrocity."

"Now he labels Israel as terrorist for defending itself from terrorists. Kerry's statement gave the Turks justification for not conciliating. Would Americans accept an apology from those who staged the Boston attack? Of course not," Rubin added.

Israel National News calls Kerry's words "a jarring comparison."

The blog Israel Matzav writes: "Just when you thought you'd heard it all from the Obama administration..."

The blog's author, "Carl in Jerusalem," is a Boston native. He's calling on his fellow Bostonians and the Israeli government to respond. Of Kerry's comments, he writes sarcastically:

Right.... Because 8-year old blockade runner Martin Richard (pictured) attacked soldiers with hunting knives and attempted to throw them overboard into the sea....

The Israeli government at the highest levels (Netanyahu and Steinitz, who is effectively acting Foreign Minister) needs to call Kerry on this. That comparison cannot be allowed to pass.

For that matter, the people of Boston should call him on it as well.

Among the nine killed aboard the Mavi Marmara were members of the IHH. The Turkish organization calls itself a humanitarian group, but has been accused of involvement in terrorist activities, including by European lawmakers who are pushing to add it to the European Union's list of terrorist entities.

On May 31, 2010, six ships organized by the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, including the Mavi Marmara, were told they would not be allowed to sail via Israeli territorial waters to Gaza. When the ships didn't stop, Israeli commandos boarded them, but were attacked on the Mavi Marmara where the IHH activists, armed with iron bars and knives, were clearly prepared for a violent confrontation.

Senior Israeli government officials traveled to Turkey Sunday to negotiate the compensation Israel said it would pay Turkey over the deaths of the Turks killed on the ship as part of a reconciliation deal brokered by President Barack Obama last month. The decision to compensate families of jihadi activists is being viewed as controversial domestically, as Israelis are concerned it breaks faith with the IDF soldiers who say they were defending themselves when those aboard the ship ambushed them.

The announcement that Israel's apology would be the first step toward normalizing relations with Turkey was touted as the major achievement of Obama's visit to Israel; however, ever since Israel said it would apologize, Turkish government officials have appeared to be backtracking on the deal. The Turkish relatives of those killed are also rejecting the compensation deal, while the Turkish public is voicing its opposition in a new Twitter hashtag #özüryetmez which means: apology (or sorry) is not enough.

Reconciliation talks between the two sides begin on Monday. At the Sunday press conference in Turkey, Kerry held out the example of the allies making peace with Germany after World War II:

If we can find a way to rebuild Germany after a war and make peace and see Germany today be an extraordinary contributor to the economy and dialogue of the world, I hope we can move even in this part of the world to break down barriers that people think can never be broke down. And Turkey can play a key role in helping us to do that. It requires two, the two parties to work together in good faith to do it. And I hope in the next few days that that's exactly what will take place.

The Times of Israel describes some of the challenges facing the negotiators:

US officials hope the discussions will jumpstart the process of restoring full diplomatic relations and exchanging ambassadors between two countries that Washington sees as vital strategic partners in the volatile Middle East.

But according to previous reports, the gaps between the two countries are formidable. For one thing, Turkey is demanding $1 million for each of the families of the Turkish citizens who were killed on the boat, while Israel has said it is willing to pay $100,000 to the families.[...]

Turkey has agreed in principle to drop charges against Israel and the IDF in return for the apology and compensation. However, the relatives of the nine activists killed on board the Gaza-bound ship have said they will not drop lawsuits filed against the former Israeli military commanders whom they hold responsible for the deaths.

Besides the apology over the Mavi Marmara deaths, Turkey is insisting that Israel lift its blockade of Gaza. That blockade was established in order to prevent the shipment of arms to Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza.

While in Istanbul, Kerry also urged Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to delay his planned visit to Gaza. Kerry said that trip could jeopardize efforts to renew Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Japan war shrine visits anger China, South Korea

War shrine visits by Japanese ministers, lawmakers anger China, South Korea

Associated Press -

TOKYO (AP) -- Dozens of Japanese lawmakers paid homage at a national war shrine Tuesday morning, risking more anger from neighbors South Korea and China over visits they see as failures to acknowledge Japan's militaristic past.

The lawmakers from various parties were seen making offerings to mark the spring festival atYasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's war dead, including World War II leaders convicted of war crimes.

Japanese media said 168 lawmakers paid the visits, which follow donations to the shrine by the prime minister and visits by three Cabinet ministers over the weekend. The government said those visits were made in an unofficial capacity, but China and South Korea lodged protests.

Yasukuni's compound has a war museum that glorifies Japan's wartime past. The site is a focus of nationalist pride among Japanese conservatives and right-wingers.

Visits to the shrine by Japanese politicians are routinely criticized by China, South Korea and North Korea, which bore the brunt of Japan's pre-1945 militarist expansion through Asia. Critics regard the visits as evidence Japan's leaders do not acknowledge their country's responsibility for its militarist past.

Top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe donated religious ornaments with "prime minister" written on them to mark Yasukuni Shrine's spring festival, but didn't visit the shrine himself. Former Prime Minister Taro Aso, who is now finance minister, and two other Cabinet ministers prayed at the shrine over the weekend.

"My understanding is that the three ministers paid visits to the shrine in their private capacity," Suga told a news conference Monday. "There is no government comment on their shrine visits as private citizens."

But at least one Cabinet minister, National Public Safety Commission chief Keiji Furuya, told reporters that he prayed as a state minister during his weekend visit.

"As a national lawmaker, it is only natural to offer prayers to the sacred spirits who sacrificed their lives for the country," Furuya said.

In Seoul, a Foreign Ministry spokesman expressed "deep concern and regret" over the actions by Abe and the other Cabinet members, calling Yasukuni a place that "glorifies Japan's wars of aggression that caused huge losses and pain to the peoples of neighboring countries."

South Korea "once again strongly urges the Japanese government to immediately stop its retrograde behavior which ignores history" and take measures to restore confidence among neighboring countries, spokesman Cho Tai-young told reporters.

China's Foreign Ministry said it lodged a diplomatic protest over the "negative moves." Spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in Beijing that how Tokyo treats Yasukuni Shrine is a test of Japan's ability to respect people in the countries it attacked.

"People of the whole world, including the Chinese people, are watching them. There is a mountain of iron-hard evidence for the crimes committed by Japanese invaders during the Second World War. Only by facing up to and deeply reflecting on the history of aggression can Japan possibly create a future and develop friendly and cooperative relations with the people of Asia," Hua said at a daily news briefing.

Suga acknowledged reports that South Korea canceled foreign ministerial talks but said the meetings later this month were at a planning stage and weren't official.

Hidehisa Otsuji, who heads a group of parliamentarians campaigning for official visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, said Tuesday that it was "only natural to offer prayers to the sacred spirits who sacrificed their lives for the country. Therefore I have difficulties understanding the opposition from other nations."

The weekend visits came amid heightened tension among the Northeast Asian nations. Japan is at odds with South Korea over an island group in the Sea of Japan that Seoul has controlled since the 1950s, and is increasingly at odds with China over a group of small islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries.

A group of Japanese ultra-nationalists planned Tuesday to approach East China Sea islands. The group registered to enter waters near the islands as a fishing vessel. The visit adds to risks of confrontation, however, with Chinese vessels circulating in the area.

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