News Makers

Polanski victims OK with reduced sentencing deal

The attorney for the victim in Roman Polanski's 32-year-old sex case is joining his lawyers' bid to have the director sentenced in absentia to time served.

Attorney Lawrence Silver on Wednesday faxed to other lawyers in the case a motion he planned to file late yesterday in Los Angeles Superior Court, asking that the director be sentenced in absentia. On behalf of the victim, Samantha Geimer, Silver also is supporting a motion by Polanski's lawyers urging that Polanski be sentenced to time served.

Geimer was 13 when she met Polanski for a modeling shoot in Los Angeles in 1977.

Polanski ultimately pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful sexual intercourse as part of a plea deal.

Gatecrashing couple silent at US Congress hearing

White House gate crashers Tareq and Michaele Salahi (pictured) invoked their US constitutional right against self-incrimination Wednesday, refusing to answer a House committee's questions about their uninvited appearance at a state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The jet-setting couple repeatedly said they were remaining silent on advice of their lawyer, but that did not prevent members of the Homeland Security Committee from peppering them with questions about how they got through Secret Service checkpoints on Nov 24.

A US grand jury is also investigating the Salahis to learn how they got past the Secret Service, which protects the president, without invitations and shook hands with President Barack Obama.

Cindy McCain boosts campain for gay marriage

Cindy McCain (pictured, right), the wife of 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain, and their daughter Meghan have posed for photos endorsing gay marriage in California. Mrs McCain appears with silver duct tape across her mouth and "NOH8" written on one cheek in a photo posted Wednesday to the Web site of NOH8, a gay rights group opposed to Proposition 8. The ballot measure passed by California voters in 2008 bans same-sex marriage.

The McCains' daughter Meghan, who has been outspoken in her support for gay rights, has also endorsed NOH8.

John McCain's office said in a statement that the Arizona senator respects the views of members of his family but remains opposed to gay marriage.

Prince William visits fire victims on last day in Oz

Prince William met with survivors of last year's deadly wildfires in southern Australia yesterday, the third and final day of his visit.

The prince's visit to Victoria state came two weeks shy of the first anniversary of the fiery disaster that has become known as Black Saturday, when hundreds of blazes raced across huge parts of the state, killing 173 people and destroying more than 2,000 homes.

The 27-year-old prince met with locals at a relief center in the close-knit community of Whittlesea, which has served as a hub for survivors who once lived in the devastated surrounding towns.

There, the second in line to the British throne quizzed authorities about the fires, and looked through a book of photos showing the damage from the blazes.

"It's terrifying what it can do, isn't it?" he said.

AP-Reuters

(China Daily 01/22/2010 page10)