News Briefs

Study finds way to improve dyslexia

A study at Stanford University found that brains of dyslexic children began functioning normally after the children were taught better reading skills. The youths took part in an eight-week program of intensive training to help them understand the sounds within language. Dyslexia, sometimes called “word blindness,” is a reading and language disorder that affects between 5 percent and 10 percent of the population. It is associated with reduced brain activity in a portion of the left half of the brain. Twenty dyslexic children aged 8 to 12, along with nondyslexic children, took part in the study.

Fort Hood soldier shot during training

Sgt. Benjamin Franklin Moore II, 25, was shot Friday night during a training exercise at Fort Hood in central Texas. The married solider, who is from Hamilton, Ohio, was shot in the back with an M-16. Initial reports show that the bullet came accidentally from another soldier. He was airlifted to Fort Hood’s Darnell Army Community Hospital, where he died shortly after his arrival. Moore’s family said he had been stationed at Fort Hood since September and had previously been in Germany and Kosovo.

Young girl dead after snowball fight

Joseph Best’s daughter was hit by a snowball during a snowball fight in Philadelphia Monday. He went to the scene with an older daughter and started a fight among the adults present. Police broke up that fight, but Best returned later and opened fire with a gun, critically wounding a 10-year-old child. Police said the girl who was shot had been inside during the fights and was not involved.

Wing of space shuttle Columbia found

NASA officials said that a piece of debris found in west Texas is from the upper section of the space shuttle Columbia’s left wing. The debris, found about 3 miles north of Littlefield, Texas, is a piece of a tile, which came from the area near where the wing narrows to meet the fuselage. The portion of the wing was found more than 200 miles west of any other identified piece of debris. It appears to show extreme heat damage and unexplained orange flecks. Investigators say they have gathered information from the final two seconds of the shuttle’s existence. The transmission during that time showed that the shuttle’s auxiliary power units were operating but the hydraulic lines had lost all pressure and fluid. The shuttle disintegrated over Texas Feb. 1, about 12 minutes before its scheduled landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. More than 8,000 pieces of debris have been recovered and sent to the center for examination. Seven astronauts died in the explosion. The accumulation of debris is providing NASA with clues to Columbia’s final moments.

Turkey to vote on deal with United States

The Turkish Cabinet asked the parliament Tuesday to allow 62,000 American troops to use the country as a base in the event of a war with Iraq. The agreement would allow the troops to use Turkey’s ports and air bases for at least six months. In exchange for $6 billion in aid for Ankara, and the opportunity for $1 billion in grants to be parlayed into $10 billion in loans, the United States would base 265 fighter planes and 65 helicopters in the country. The vote scheduled in parliament is only on the troop request. Sixty members in the 550-seat parliament have said they will abstain from voting. According to CNN’s Jane Arraf, polls show 90 percent of Turks are against war with Iraq. Turkey’s troops would help contain any refugee crisis and prevent fighting from spilling over into the country, but they would not fight in a war against Iraq.

Malvo and Muhammad acted as a ‘sniper team’

Lee Boyd Malvo, 17, said he and John Allen Muhammad, 42, “were equals” in the sniper spree that took the lives of 13 people in Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Either man “could call a particular shot on or off,” said Virginia prosecutors. Muhammad will stand trial in Prince William County in October. The pair is being tried in Virginia first, where they could face the death penalty.

Diplomatic buildings in Venezuela damaged by blasts

Powerful explosions damaged the Spanish Embassy and the Colombian consulate in Caracas, Venezuela Tuesday. Four people were injured. The blasts came about 24 hours after President Hugo Chavez warned the world in his weekly radio and TV show to stop meddling in the affairs of the troubled South American nation. In his broadcast, he accused the United States and Spain of siding with his enemies. He also warned Columbia that he might break off diplomatic relations. The U.S. State Department warned that the president’s words could incite violence.