Oregon Teen Held on $2 Million Bail in School Bomb Plot Case

An Oregon teen accused of plotting to attack his classmates planned to blare music before entering the school with a napalm firebomb in his hand and open fire while saying, "The Russian grim reaper is here," according to an affidavit.

After he threw the napalm firebomb, 17-year-old Grant Acord planned to unzip his duffle bag and begin firing on his classmates at West Albany High School, according to handwritten plans authorities said were seized from Acord's home.

Next, Acord plann called for him to "cooly state, 'the Russian grim reaper is here,'" according to the documents, which were released today.

The high school junior is being charged as an adult and made his first appearance in Benton County Circuit Court this afternoon via a video link.

Acord faces charges including attempted aggravated murder, manufacture and possession of a destructive device and possession of a deadly weapon with intent to use against another person. He was charged as an adult.

A judge ordered Acord to be held on $2 million bail.

He did not enter a plea and his court appointed attorney asked that a plea not be entered at this time.

Benton County District Attorney John Haroldson said the teen had a detailed plan, timeline and a deadly cache of weapons "specifically modeled after the Columbine shootings," that killed 13 people and injured 21 more in 1999.

Authorities said they found six homemade explosive devices -- including pipe bombs, Molotov cocktails and Draino bombs -- hidden in a compartment beneath Acord's bedroom floor.

He meticulously planned the massacre and kept a checklist of his current stock and items he needed to buy and their costs, and how he planned to use them, according to the documents.

"Proceed to enter the school, then shoot and throw bombs throughout the school," Acord wrote in his journal, according to the affidavit. "Kill myself before S.W.A.T. engages me."

Acord's mother, Marianne Fox, attended the court hearing today and released a statement to ABC News' Portland affiliate KOMO-TV through her attorney, Alan Lanker.

"My heart goes out to everyone affected by Grant's struggle with PANDAS, a rare form of Obsessive-compulsive Disorder. I grieve for my son, but understand and support the efforts of law enforcement to keep our beloved community safe," she said. "This is a challenging and confusing time for everyone who knows Grant. I will have no further comment while I wait with the rest of you to see what unfolds."

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SKorea idles 2 nuke plants after cable tests faked

SKorea halts 2 nuclear plants for using control cables with fabricated test results

Associated Press -

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- South Korea has idled two nuclear power plants after finding that test results for crucial control cables were falsified in a new blow to an industry mired in a graft scandal and safety lapses.

South Korea's trade and energy ministry said Tuesday a company contracted to conduct tests fabricated the results for cables that failed to meet international standards for capacity to withstand changes in voltage and pressure. It warned that the plant shutdowns would result in summer power shortages.

The cables control valves that are responsible for cooling nuclear fuel or preventing the release of radioactive materials during an emergency. Another four nuclear reactors that were either shut down for scheduled maintenance or under construction were also using cables that had failed the tests.

"If these control cables do not operate well during an emergency, we viewed that it would not guarantee to cool nuclear fuels or to shut off radioactive materials," South Korea's Nuclear Safety and Security Commission said in a statement.

It said the cables, which were in use since December 2011, failed nine of 12 tests pertinent to their operation in a "loss of coolant accident."

Han Jinhyun, vice trade and energy minister, declined to name the company while the government's investigation is ongoing. The ministry will sue the company and also ask prosecutors to launch a probe, he told a press conference.

The revelations add to public worries about nuclear safety and power shortages during the summer when demand is at its peak. They are a new blow to South Korea's ambitions to export its nuclear technology.

With the shutdown of the Shin-Kori No. 2 and Shin-Wolsong No. 1 reactors to replace cables, a total of 10 nuclear plants are now offline.

The minister said it would take around four months to replace the cables and warned "unprecedented power shortages" are expected in coming months.

"There is no means to increase power supply in the short term, so we expect we need to lower demand considerably to weather the crisis," he said.

Last year, the South Korean nuclear industry was rocked by revelations that thousands of components used in nuclear plants had falsified quality certificates. Dozens of employees at state owned nuclear power plant operator, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., were prosecuted for taking bribes from contractors to accept substandard parts and machinery.

The investigation into the cable problems began after the nuclear safety commission received tips through a whistleblowing channel that was set up in the wake of last year's scandal.

"This incident is more serious than previous scandals because it is wrongdoing by a company that is supposed to oversee products," said Kim Ik-jung, a medical professor at Dongguk University who has become prominent as an anti-nuclear activist since the government decided to build a nuclear waste dump in Gyeongju city where he lives.

"Corruption is widespread in the nuclear industry because there is no agency that can truly regulate Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power," he said.

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South China Sea tension mounts near Filipino shipwreck

By Manuel Mogato

MANILA (Reuters) - A wrecked navy transport ship perched on a remote coral reef could be the next flashpoint in the South China Sea, where China and five other claimants bitterly dispute territory.

The Philippines is accusing China of encroachment after threeChinese ships, including a naval frigate, converged just 5 nautical miles from an old transport ship that Manila ran aground on a reef in 1999 to mark its territory.

Philippine officials say they fear the Chinese ships will block supplies to about a dozen Filipino marines stationed in abject conditions on the rusting ship, raising tensions over one of Asia's biggest security issues.

The area, known as Second Thomas Shoal, is a strategic gateway toReed Bank, believed to be rich in oil and natural gas. In 2010, Manila awarded an Anglo-Filipino consortium a license to explore for gas on Reed Bank but drilling stalled last year due to the presence of Chinese ships.

Manila says Reed Bank, about 80 nautical miles west of Palawan island at the southwestern end of the Philippine archipelago, is within the country's 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone.

Beijing says it is part of the Spratlys, a group of 250 uninhabitable islets spread over 165,000 square miles, claimed entirely by China, Taiwan and Vietnam and in part by Malaysia, Brunei and thePhilippines.

"China should pull out of the area because under international law, they do not have the right to be there," said Raul Hernandez, a spokesman for the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, noting the area's proximity to Palawan, the country's largest province. He said the Chinese ships were a "provocation and illegal presence".

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Tuesday the Second Thomas Shoal was part of the Spratly Islands, over which China had "indisputable sovereignty".

"It is beyond reproach for Chinese boats to carry out patrols in these waters," Hong said, adding China called on all parties to "refrain from taking actions that complicate the situation".

CHINA REPORT WARNS OF CRISIS AHEAD

The tension illustrates how a decades-old territorial squabble over the South China Sea is entering a more contentious chapter as claimant nations spread deeper into disputed waters in search of energy supplies, while building up navies and alliances with other nations.

Vietnam this week again accused China of endangering the lives of its fishermen with the ramming of a trawler in the South China Sea.

"The actions of the Chinese vessels have seriously violated Vietnam's sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the East Sea, threatening lives and property damage of Vietnam's fishermen," Foreign Ministry spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi said in a statement posted on Tuesday. Vietnam handed a diplomatic note the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi to protest the incident.

China said it was merely acting to prevent illegal fishing in Chinese waters, adding that Vietnam's accusations "did not accord with the facts".

A report issued on Tuesday by Chinese military think tank the Centre for National Defence Policy said it was the U.S. "pivot" back to Asia which had "shattered" the relative calm of the South China Sea, warning of crisis ahead.

"While the conditions do not yet exist for a large-scale armed clash, the dispute is becoming normalized and long-term ... and ineffective management may lead to a serious crisis," the report said, according to the China News Service.

The tension comes just before U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel meets his Asia-Pacific counterparts at the so-called Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore at the weekend. The South China Sea is on the agenda of the regional security forum.

Second Thomas Shoal is one of several possible flashpoints in the South China Sea that could force the United States to intervene in defence of its Southeast Asian allies.

"CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER"

As of Tuesday, two Chinese marine surveillance ships remained in the area, Philippine navy spokesman Colonel Edgardo Arevalo said, adding the fishing boats and the frigate had left.

"The presence of those ships is a clear and present danger," said another senior Philippine navy officer, who declined to be identified as he is not authorized to speak to media. He said the Philippines believed China was trying to pressure it to leave the shoal.

"We don't want to wake up one day with fresh structures sitting near our navy ship there. We have to bite the bullet and strengthen our position there or risk losing the territory."

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), a 10-nation grouping that includes the Philippines, has been talking to China about a binding code of conduct to ease tension. But China says it will negotiate "when the time is ripe".

ASEAN foreign ministers are due to meet in Thailand in August to forge a position on the code of conduct before meeting Chinese officials in late August or early September in Beijing.

Zha Daojiong, an international relations professor at Beijing's Peking University, said China was serious about asserting its claims in the South China Sea.

"There is now a quiet agreement among different Chinese voices that sometimes you have to act as well as issuing statements," he said.

Ian Storey, a scholar at Singapore's Institute of South East Asian Studies, said tension at Second Thomas Shoal could prove more dangerous than last year's stand-off at unoccupied Scarborough Shoal, given the presence of Filipino troops.

"It is hard to imagine China using force to gain full control over Second Thomas, but some kind of blockade to drive out the Philippines' troops would have to be a possibility," Storey said. "There is a real chance of escalation or miscalculation."

(Additional reporting by Greg Torode in Hong Kong, Martin Petty in Hanoi and Terril Jones and Ben Blanchard in Beijing; Editing by Jason Szep, Robert Birsel and Michael Perry)

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