Six In The Morning

Perhaps There Should Be A Look At Firearms Laws
Gun control activists cite the shooting rampage as a reason to impose stricter background checks and reinstate an assault-weapons ban. Others say citizens should be armed for self-protection.
Focus turns to Arizona's gun laws
Reporting from Tucson — It was a busy day at the Tucson Mountain Park shooting range Sunday, where the aroma of gunpowder filled the air one day after 20 people were shot, six fatally, at a shopping center.

Alex Anderson, 24, was armed with a 9-millimeter Taurus, the same caliber as the gun that authorities say Jared Lee Loughner used in the shootings. Anderson, who works at the Home Depot next to the Sportsman's Warehouse where the gunman's weapon was purchased, has a permit to carry his gun concealed but no longer needs that, thanks to a state law passed last year.

You Can Live Here Only If We Let You

Historic hotel in Israel flattened for settlements
Israeli bulldozers yesterday demolished a large part of a historic Palestinian hotel in Arab East Jerusalem as part of an internationally condemned plan to establish 20 new homes for Jewish settlers.

Three bulldozers moved into the compound of the old and empty Shepherd Hotel shortly after 6.30am and began destroying a main wing of the building, close to the British consulate-general in the Sheikh Jarrah district of the city. The high-profile demolition was carried out on behalf of the American millionaire Irving Moskowitz, a leading patron of Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem who bought the property in 1985 and finally obtained planning permission from the city municipality to build the new homes last year. The Obama administration expressed its disapproval at the time.

Words Do Have Consequences

Will the 'People's House' become less accessible?
The House of Representatives is meant to be easily accessible to ordinary Americans.

After all, it's known as the "People's House."

A day after the shooting that critically wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., there were no immediate moves to wall off other lawmakers from public access, but as Capitol police urged members to report any suspicions or concerns to a threat assessment team, constituents from across the country worried it could ultimately have a chilling effect on their own access to their elected representatives — in Congress or even at the state and local level.

Democratic Dictatorship

Belarus Signals It Could Seize Opponent’s Son
MINSK, Belarus — Ever since riot police officers crushed a large protest against apparent fraud in presidential elections here last month, the security services — still called the K.G.B. in this authoritarian former Soviet republic — have been rounding up people across the country for even the most tangential affiliation with the opposition.
Now, it seems, they have gone a step further.

The government warned recently that it might seize custody of the 3-year-old son of an opposition presidential candidate who was jailed along with his wife, a journalist. The authorities said that they were investigating the status of the child, who is now living with his grandmother, and that they expected to make a decision by the end of the month.

Voters Celebrate

For jubilant voters in S. Sudan, new country nears
JUBA, Sudan — Men and women walked to election stations in the middle of the night Sunday to create a new nation: Southern Sudan. Some broke out into spontaneous song in the long lines. And a veteran of Sudan's two-decade civil war, a conflict that left 2 million people dead, choked back tears.
"We lost a lot of people," said Lt. Col. William Ngang Ayuen, who was snapping pictures of camouflaged soldiers waiting in long lines to vote. The 48-year-old turned away from his comrades for a moment to maintain composure.
"Today is good for them."

Prepare For The Arrival Of ET

Earth must prepare for close encounter with aliens, say scientists
World governments should prepare a coordinated action plan in case Earth is contacted by aliens, according to scientists.

They argue that a branch of the UN must be given responsibility for "supra-Earth affairs" and formulate a plan for how to deal with extraterrestrials, should they appear.

The comments are part of an extraterrestrial-themed edition of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A published today. In it, scientists examine all aspects of the search for extraterrestrial life, from astronomy and biology to the political and religious fall-out that would result from alien contact.