The crisis surrounding Greece’s public finances deepened. After weeks of trying to convince the markets that it could finance its debt, the country saw its credit rating cut to junk status, a first for a euro-zone member. Greece had earlier asked for the formal activation of a €45 billion ($60 billion) rescue package co-ordinated by the European Union and the IMF. As stockmarkets swooned, pressure mounted on the leaders of euro-zone countries, particularly Germany’s Angela Merkel, to agree quickly on the details of the bail-out. Many reckoned that the size of a Greek rescue would need to rise to €120 billion or more. See article
The head of the OECD remarked that contagion from the Greek crisis had already spread “like Ebola” to other euro-area countries and was a threat to the currency block’s financial system. Spain’s credit-rating was cut by one notch and its outlook changed to “negative”. Portugal’s sovereign debt was also downgraded.
In what had otherwise been a largely gaffe-free British election campaign, Gordon Brown was caught on microphone describing a 66-year-old woman who had just confronted him with a question on immigration as “bigoted”. Outrage, not all of it phoney, ensued. The Conservatives held a steady lead in the polls but the Liberal Democrats’ high ratings showed no sign of falling. Attention increasingly turned to the back-room deals that the parties might strike in the event of a hung parliament. See article
The centre-right Fidesz won a resounding victory in the second round of voting in Hungary’s general election. With a two-thirds majority in parliament, the party’s leader, Viktor Orban, will be able to enact constitutional changes. See article
Not for the first time, a row between Belgium’s fractious Flemish and French-speaking communities brought down the government. Elections will probably be held in June.
Arizona’s governor signed a bill that gives local police the power to clamp down on illegal immigration, which is a federal responsibility. The act was condemned by Barack Obama, who said it undermined “basic notions of fairness”, and the Mexican government warned its citizens against travelling to Arizona. But supporters of the legislation, including John McCain, argued it had been enacted because of “enormous frustration” at the surge of illegal workers in the state.
That row had a knock-on effect on a bipartisan effort to craft an energy and climate-change bill as Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator, withdrew his crucial support and blamed what he said was a partisan attempt to refocus on immigration. Senior Democrats confirmed they were drafting a framework for an immigration-reform bill. See article
Charlie Crist, Florida’s governor, was set to leave the Republican Party and run for the Senate as an independent. Polls indicated he would lose heavily in a Republican primary election to Marco Rubio, who is backed by tea partyers.
Environmental officials and BP worked furiously to contain a huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that threatened the coast of Louisiana. The slick formed when a BP rig sank after an explosion in which 11 men are presumed dead. Flight observations suggested that the oil spill was five times bigger than initial estimates. See article
A proposal to build the first offshore wind farm in the United States was given the go ahead. The controversial 130-turbine project off the coast of Cape Cod faced strong local opposition and had been under review for nine years.
The speaker of Canada’s Parliament ruled that opposition politicians have the right to see secret documents regarding the treatment of detainees in Afghanistan, which Stephen Harper, the prime minister, had refused to hand over. The speaker gave the government two weeks to agree on a mechanism with the opposition for releasing the documents—or risk being held in contempt of Parliament.
America extradited Manuel Noriega, a former Panamanian dictator, to France to face money-laundering charges. He had already completed a 17-year sentence in Miami for drug-trafficking and racketeering. Panama has also requested his extradition.
Paraguay’s Congress approved a law imposing a state of emergency in the north and west of the country, giving the security forces extra powers to crack down against a small guerrilla group.
Sudan’s president, Omar Bashir, was declared the winner of the country’s first multi-party elections for 24 years, taking 68% of the votes cast in a presidential poll that several opposition parties boycotted and that many independent observers deemed flawed. Salva Kiir, leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, won a contest to become president of the independence-minded southern region.
At least 58 Iraqis were killed in a spate of bombs, presumably set off by Sunni jihadists, in the wake of the recent killing of three leaders of Iraqi groups linked to al-Qaeda.
After the recent grenade attack on a railway station in Bangkok that killed one person and injured 80, and the death of a soldier, apparently caused by a stray army bullet, violence flared again as red-shirted protesters continued to occupy parts of the Thai capital. Thailand’s prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, rejected a red-shirt offer to withdraw in return for a promise of a three-month timetable for elections. See article
A leader of the interim government of Kyrgyzstan that took power after a popular uprising on April 7th said that the ousted president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, had been charged in absentia with organising mass killings. Mr Bakiyev, after fleeing his homeland, has been welcomed in Belarus.
India arrested one of its nationals working in its embassy in Islamabad on charges of spying for Pakistan. News of the arrest came just before the Indian and Pakistani prime ministers held bilateral talks in the margins of a regional summit in Bhutan.
Kevin Rudd, Australia’s prime minister, announced that he was shelving plans to pass a law introducing a system for trading emissions until 2013. He cited the need for global action, and the opposition’s refusal to pass legislation. See article
Ahmad Sani Yerima oversaw the introduction of Sharia in Zamfara State
A Nigerian senator accused of marrying a 13-year-old Egyptian girl says he has done nothing wrong.
Ahmad Sani Yerima, 49, told the BBC that his fourth wife was not 13, but would not say how old she was.
He denied breaking the law but said he would not respect any law that contradicted his religious beliefs.
The Nigerian senate ordered an investigation after complaints from women's groups but the senator said he did not care what the groups thought.
Mr Sani was the governor of Zamfara state, where he oversaw the introduction of Sharia law - for the first time in a northern state - in 1999.
As a Muslim, as I always say, I consider God's law and that of his prophet above any other law
Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima
He said he felt it was this that was behind the uproar over his marriage.
"I consider all those complaining about this issue as detractors, because since 1999... many people have been waging different kind of wars against me," he told the BBC's Hausa Service by telephone from Egypt.
The senator said he had followed "standard rules for marriage in Islam".
"I don't care about the issue of age since I have not violated any rule as far as Islam is concerned," he said.
"History tells us that Prophet Muhammad did marry a young girl as well. Therefore I have not contravened any law. Even if she is 13, as it is being falsely peddled around.
"If I state the age, they will still use it to smear Islam," he said.
The BBC's Caroline Duffield in Lagos says newspaper reports of the marriage have created a storm among human rights groups.
This very evil act should not be seen to be perpetrated by one of our distinguished legislators
Mma Wokocha Women's Medical Association head
Female senators - lawyers and doctors - who are protesting say that they fear for the child's health.
"What we are concerned with is that our minors, the girl child, should be allowed to mature, before going into marriage," Mma Wokocha, president of the Women's Medical Association and one of those behind a petition, told the BBC.
"This very evil act should not be seen to be perpetrated by one of our distinguished legislators... that is what we are saying.''
The senator is reported to have paid a dowry of $100,000 (£66,000) to the child's parents - and to have brought the girl into Nigeria from Egypt.
The women's groups want Mr Sani to be taken to court, to face a fine and a jail sentence.
They say he has contravened the Child Rights Act of 2003 which, although not ratified by all Nigeria's 36 states, is law in the capital where he lives and his marriage is believed to have taken place.
"As a Muslim, as I always say, I consider God's law and that of his prophet above any other law," Mr Sani said.
"I will not respect any law that contradicts that and whoever wants to sanction me for that is free to do that."
Newspaper reports have also accused the senator of having previously married a 15-year-old girl in 2006.
VENICE, La. – The government has sent skimmers, booms and other resources to clean up a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that's become far worse than initially thought and threatens the fragile marshlands along the shore, a Coast Guard official said Thursday.
Coast Guard Rear Adm. Sally Brice-O'Hara said at the White House that the government's priority was to support the oil company BP PLC in employing booms, skimmers, chemical dispersants and controlled burns to fight the oil surging from the seabed.
An executive for BP PLC, which operated the oil rig that exploded and sank last week, said earlier in the day on NBC's "Today" that the company would welcome help from the U.S. military.
"We'll take help from anyone," said Doug Suttles, chief operating officer for BP Exploration and Production.
The Coast Guard has urged the company to formally request more resources from the Defense Department. President Barack Obama has dispatched Homeland SecuritySecretary Janet Napolitano, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson had been dispatched to help with the spill.
But time may be running out: Oil from the spill had crept to within 12 miles of the coast, and it could reach shore as soon as Friday. A third leak was discovered, which government officials said is spewing five times as much oil into the water as originally estimated — about 5,000 barrels a day coming from the blown-out well 40 miles offshore.
Suttles had initially disputed the government's estimate, and that the company was unable to handle the operation to contain it.
But early Thursday, he acknowledged on "Today" that the leak may be as bad as the government says. He said there was no way to measure the flow at the seabed and estimates have to come from how much oil makes it to the surface.
If the well cannot be closed, almost 100,000 barrels of oil, or 4.2 million gallons, could spill into the Gulf before crews can drill a relief well to alleviate the pressure. By comparison, the Exxon Valdez, the worst oil spill in U.S. history, leaked 11 million gallons into Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989.
As dawn broke Thursday in the oil industry hub of Venice, about 75 miles from New Orleans and not far from the mouth of the Mississippi River, crews loaded an orange oil boom aboard a supply boat at Bud's Boat Launch. There, local officials expressed frustration with the pace of the government's response and the communication they were getting from the Coast Guard and BP officials.
"We're not doing everything we can do," said Billy Nungesser, president of Plaquemines Parish, which straddles the Mississippi River at the tip of Louisiana.
"Give us the worst-case scenario. How far inland is this supposed to go?" Nungesser said. He has suggested enlisting the local fishing fleet to spread booms to halt the oil, which threatens some of the nation's most fertile seafood grounds.
There's a growing tension in towns like Port Sulphur and Empire along Louisiana 23, which runs south of New Orleans along the Mississippi River into prime oyster and shrimping waters.
Companies like Chevron and ConocoPhillips have facilities nearby, and some are hesisitant to criticize BP or the federal government, knowing the oil industry is as much a staple here as the fishermen.
"I don't think there's a lot of blame going around here, people are just cocerned about their livlihoods," said Sullivan Vullo, who owns La Casa Cafe in Port Sulphur.
Louisiana has opened a special shrimp season along parts of the coast so shrimpers can harvest the profitable white shrimp before the spill has an effect.
The spill has moved steadily toward the mouth of the Mississippi River and the wetland areas east of it, home to hundreds of species of wildlife and near some rich oyster grounds.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on Thursday declared a state of emergency so officials could begin preparing for the oil's impact. His declaration says at least 10 wildlife management areas and refuges in his state and neighboring Mississippi are in the oil plume's path. It also notes that billions of dollars have been invested in coastal restoration projects that may be at risk.
A federal class-action lawsuit was filed late Wednesday over the oil spill on behalf of two commercial shrimpers from Louisiana, Acy J. Cooper Jr. and Ronnie Louis Anderson.
The suit seeks at least $5 million in compensatory damages plus an unspecified amount of punitive damages against Transocean, BP, Halliburton Energy Services Inc. and Cameron International Corp.
Jim Klick, a lawyer for Cooper and Anderson, said the oil spill already is disrupting the commercial shrimping industry.
"They should be preparing themselves for the upcoming shrimp season," he said. "Now they're very much concerned that the whole shrimp season is out."
Mike Brewer, 40, who lost his oil spill response company in the devastation of Hurricane Katrina nearly five years ago, said the area was accustomed to the occassional minor spill. But he feared the scale of the escaping oil was beyond the capacity of existing resources.
"You're pumping out a massive amount of oil. There is no way to stop it," he said.
The rig Deepwater Horizon sank a week ago after exploding two days earlier. Of its crew of 126, 11 are missing and presumed dead. The rig was owned by Transocean Ltd. and operated by BP. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry said BP is responsible for bringing resources to shut off the flow and clean up the spill.
"It has become clear after several unsuccessful attempts to determine the cause" that agencies must supplement what's being done by the company, she said.
A fleet of boats working under an oil industry consortium has been using booms to corral and then skim oil from the surface.
Landry said a controlled test to burn the leaking oil was successful late Wednesday afternoon. BP was to set more fires after the test, but as night fell, there were no more burns. None were planned for Thursday as sea conditions deteriorated.
The decision to burn some of the oil came after crews operating submersible robots failed to activate a shut-off device that would halt the flow of oil on the sea bottom 5,000 feet below.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was briefed Thursday morning on the issue, said his spokesman, Capt. John Kirby. But Kirby said the Defense Department has received no request for help, nor is it doing any detailed planning for any mission on the oil spill.
President Barack Obama has directed officials to aggressively confront the spill, but the cost of the cleanup will fall on BP, spokesman Nick Shapiro said.
Back in Venice, some fishermen desperate to clear the oil so they can work volunteered to help with cleanup operations, even if their boats weren't adequately outfitted.
Hai Huynh, 39, and his 22-year-old deck hand Robert Huynh were ready to help however they could even though the Coast Guard will only allow vessels with lifeboats to help with carrying oil booms to contain the spill.
"We want to go out and help clean up the oil," Robert Huynh said aboard their freshly painted steel-hulled shrimp boat, the Miss Kimberly. "We're ready."
___
Associated Press writers Janet McConnaughey, Kevin McGill Michael Kunzelman and Brett Martel in New Orleans, Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge and Holbrook Mohr in Jackson, Miss., contributed to this report.
JERUSALEM – Ultranationalist Israeli settlers on Thursday surrounded a Palestinian home near a West Bank settlement and hurled rocks through windows to avenge a string of early morning arrests by Israeli police.
Residents of the Yitzhar settlement, in the northern West Bank, marched through the neighboring Palestinian village of Hawara in a show of anger over what they said was a police campaign against them. Yitzhar is among the most radical settlements in the West Bank, and its residents have scuffled with Israeli forces several times in recent weeks.
Friction is common between the 2.5 million Palestinians and 300,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.
Palestinians view the more than 120 settlements that Israel has built across the West Bank as a key obstacle to setting up their own state. Hardline settlers, including residents of Yitzhar, believe they are returning to lands promised to the Jews by God.
The latest unrest occurred hours after soldiers raided Yitzhar and arrested seven settlers, including three minors, for unspecified "disturbances," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.
Yitzhar settler Avraham Binyamin said Israeli police detained the settlers for 10 or 15 minutes at around 4:30 a.m.
After police attempted to arrest another settler later Thursday morning, a group of Yitzhar residents tried to block them, then later marched to Hawara "to demonstrate against the crusade that the police are enacting," Binyamin said.
Palestinian villagers said the settlers fled only after people inside the house called for help through a loudspeaker and a crowd of Palestinians converged on the area. Israeli soldiers later arrived on the scene to keep the sides separated.
Binyamin said the violent demonstration was part of what the settlers call their "price tag" policy — going after Palestinian targets to avenge Israeli police actions against the settlers. Settlers have repeatedly attacked Palestinian farmland, and are suspected in a recent vandalism attack on a West Bank mosque.
Thursday's arrests followed a week of tension after Yitzhar residents beat and lightly wounded an Israeli soldier and slashed the tires of military vehicles.
Two more minors were arrested during the disturbances on Thursday, Rosenfeld said.
The Israeli army announced plans to increase protection for Palestinian villages near Yitzhar, Army Radio reported Thursday.
VENICE, La. – A massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that has become far worse than initially thought crept toward the coast Thursday as government officials offered help from the military to prevent a disaster that could destroy fragile marshlands along the shore.
An executive for BP PLC, which operated the oil rig that exploded and sank last week, said on NBC's "Today" that the company would welcome help from the U.S. military.
"We'll take help from anyone," BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said.
The Coast Guard has urged the company to formally request more resources from the Defense Department.
But time may be running out: Oil from the spill had crept to within 12 miles of the coast, and it could reach shore as soon as Friday. A third leak was discovered, which government officials said is spewing five times as much oil into the water as originally estimated — about 5,000 barrels a day coming from the blown-out well 40 miles offshore.
Suttles had initially disputed the government's estimate, and that the company was unable to handle the operation to contain it.
But early Thursday, he acknowledged on "Today" that the leak may be as bad as the government says. He said there was no way to measure the flow at the seabed and estimates have to come from how much oil makes it to the surface.
If the well cannot be closed, almost 100,000 barrels of oil, or 4.2 million gallons, could spill into the Gulf before crews can drill a relief well to alleviate the pressure. By comparison, the Exxon Valdez, the worst oil spill in U.S. history, leaked 11 million gallons into Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989.
As dawn broke Thursday in the oil industry hub of Venice, about 75 miles from New Orleans and not far from the mouth of the Mississippi River, crews loaded an orange oil boom aboard a supply boat at Bud's Boat Launch. There, local officials expressed frustration with the pace of the government's response and the communication they were getting from the Coast Guard and BP officials.
"We're not doing everything we can do," said Billy Nungesser, president of Plaquemines Parish, which straddles the Mississippi River at the tip of Louisiana.
"Give us the worst-case scenario. How far inland is this supposed to go?" Nungesser said. He has suggested enlisting the local fishing fleet to spread booms to halt the oil, which threatens some of the nation's most fertile seafood grounds.
Louisiana has opened a special shrimp season along parts of the coast so shrimpers can harvest the profitable white shrimp before the spill has an effect.
Michael Nguyen, 58, was aboard his 82-foot shrimp boat, the Night Star III, waiting for news Thursday morning on what has happening with the slick.
"My boat is ready: New nets, did repairs. I'm ready to go," he said.
He wasn't panicking, but was clearly worried.
"The oil come in everywhere, the shrimp die, the crabs die, the fish die. What do I do? Stay home a long time?"
The spill has moved steadily toward the mouth of the Mississippi River and the wetland areas east of it, home to hundreds of species of wildlife and near some rich oyster grounds.
A federal class-action lawsuit was filed late Wednesday over the oil spill on behalf of two commercial shrimpers from Louisiana, Acy J. Cooper Jr. and Ronnie Louis Anderson.
The suit seeks at least $5 million in compensatory damages plus an unspecified amount of punitive damages against Transocean, BP, Halliburton Energy Services Inc. and Cameron International Corp.
Jim Klick, a lawyer for Cooper and Anderson, said the oil spill already is disrupting the commercial shrimping industry.
"They should be preparing themselves for the upcoming shrimp season," he said. "Now they're very much concerned that the whole shrimp season is out."
Mike Brewer, 40, who lost his oil spill response company in the devastation of Hurricane Katrina nearly five years ago, said the area was accustomed to the occassional minor spill. But he feared the scale of the escaping oil was beyond the capacity of existing resources.
"You're pumping out a massive amount of oil. There is no way to stop it," he said.
The rig Deepwater Horizon sank a week ago after exploding two days earlier. Of its crew of 126, 11 are missing and presumed dead. The rig was owned by Transocean Ltd. and operated by BP. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry said BP is responsible for bringing resources to shut off the flow and clean up the spill.
"It has become clear after several unsuccessful attempts to determine the cause" that agencies must supplement what's being done by the company, she said.
A fleet of boats working under an oil industry consortium has been using booms to corral and then skim oil from the surface.
Landry said a controlled test to burn the leaking oil was successful late Wednesday afternoon. BP was to set more fires after the test, but as night fell, there were no more burns. No details have been given about when more were planned were given during the news conference.
The decision to burn some of the oil came after crews operating submersible robots failed to activate a shut-off device that would halt the flow of oil on the sea bottom 5,000 feet below.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was briefed Thursday morning on the issue, said his spokesman, Capt. John Kirby. But Kirby said the Defense Department has received no request for help, nor is it doing any detailed planning for any mission on the oil spill.
President Barack Obama has directed officials to aggressively confront the spill, but the cost of the cleanup will fall on BP, spokesman Nick Shapiro said.
The tunnels provide a lifeline for those living in the impoverished Gaza Strip
Four Palestinians have died in a smuggling tunnel under Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical officials say.
Some reports said the tunnel collapsed after an explosion on the Egyptian side, but this has not been confirmed.
Another report quoted a Hamas official as saying the tunnel had been filled with gas. Egypt has not commented.
Cairo is trying to shut down the network of tunnels through which Gazans try to beat the Israeli blockade.
In a separate incident, a Palestinian man died after being shot during a protest near Gaza's border with Israel.
Palestinian medics said the 20-year-old man had been shot by Israeli forces, but Israel would only say the incident was being investigated.
An army spokesman told AFP news agency that soldiers had fired warning shots at protesters trying to start a fire near the security barrier, without specifying if any Palestinians were hit.
Smuggling route
In Gaza, Palestinian officials said at least another three people in the tunnel were injured.
The tunnels are used to smuggle in arms, fuel and goods from Egypt, but cave-ins are frequent.
Egypt is building a huge underground barrier along the Gaza border to stop smuggling.
The structure - made of bomb-proof steel - will be 10-11km (6-7 miles) long and extend 18m (59ft) below the surface.
ATHENS/VIENNA (Reuters) - They did not cause the debt crisis but Greece's banks may soon become its victims, and increasing pressure on their balance sheets could add another chapter to Athens' fiscal tragedy.
With Democrats having agreed to some concessions related to bailouts, Republicans are expected to allow the bill to move to the Senate floor and work for amendments there.
Hewlett-Packard has agreed to acquire Palm for $1.4 billion in cash, uniting a pair of companies that have failed to make much recent headway in the smartphone business.
ATHENS/VIENNA (Reuters) - They did not cause the debt crisis but Greece's banks may soon become its victims, and increasing pressure on their balance sheets could add another chapter to Athens' fiscal tragedy.
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About a dozen fast food restaurants in unincorporated areas of Silicon Valley are affected by the ordinance. Toys also banned in meals with more than 485 calories.
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WASHINGTON – A Continental Express flight from Houston to the Washington, D.C., area was diverted Wednesday morning when someone discovered the word "bomb" written on a bathroom mirror inside the plane, U.S. officials said.
A search of the plane after it landed in Greensboro, N.C., turned up no explosives.
The officials who described what was written on the mirror spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing. Earlier the Transportation Security Administration had said only that a threatening message was written on a bathroom mirror, but gave no details of the message.
FBI agents, Greensboro's police bomb squad, and bomb-sniffing dogs owned by the Piedmont Triad International Airport Authority swept through the plane and its cargo and found no explosives, airport executive directorTed Johnson said. Every passenger was questioned by the FBI, Johnson said.
"Somebody did it but we've got to draw the right clues to the right person," Johnson said.
Amy Thoreson, an FBI spokeswoman in Charlotte, said agents continued their investigation and had no immediate plans to file criminal charges. Agents released the jet back to the airline.
The flight took off again for Dulles International Airport in Virginia more than six hours after landing in North Carolina, Continental spokeswoman Christen David said in an e-mailed statement.
Flight 3006, operated by regional carrier ExpressJet for Continental Airlines Inc., was when it was directed to land at the airport near Greensboro "out of an abundance of caution," the TSA said.
The plane was met by law enforcement officers after taxiing to a remote area of the airfield.
The Embraer 145 regional jet carried 45 passengers and three crew members, Continental and ExpressJet said. The plane landed without incident, the airlines and Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Arlene Salac said.
"Continental and ExpressJet are cooperating with local authorities," David said.
BUFFALO, N.Y. – A sex offender who infected at least 13 women with the AIDS virus should be locked up indefinitely under a civil law meant to keep the most dangerous offenders out of communities even after they complete prison sentences, the state said Wednesday.
The attorney general's office described 33-year-old Nushawn Williams in court papers as a mentally disturbed, sex-obsessed drug user who was unruly and sometimes violent during his 12 years in prison and would likely infect more women if set free.
He pleaded guilty in 1998 to charges of statutory rape and reckless endangerment after his behavior set off a panic in the small western New York town of Jamestown, where the dreadlocked convict was known as "Face" to the young, sometimes drug-addicted women and girls he charmed for sex.
Williams said nothing Wednesday during the first court appearance in the state's efforts to have him confined.
Under a 3-year-old statute, the state can lock up a sex offender indefinitely if it proves the person has a mental abnormality and is likely to offend again. Williams, whose criminal sentence ended April 13, would be held at a medium-security psychiatric facility, with his case reviewed yearly.
"I'm just waiting for him to come home. I feel like he did his time," his mother, Denise Williams, said after watching Wednesday's hearing in state Supreme Court. "Ain't nothing wrong with him."
In 1997, before Williams was charged, health and police authorities took the unusual step of making his HIV status public to try to stop further spread of the virus by Williams' partners — the youngest of whom was 13 — to others. As lines for HIV testing stretched out the door of clinics in Jamestown, Williams said he did not recall being told he had the virus while in jail in 1996.
He told a reporter in 1999 that he'd had sex with 200 to 300 partners before his arrest.
A psychologist's report filed as part of the civil confinement efforts describes Williams as a high school dropout who has never been formally employed, is preoccupied with sex and cares so little about others that he threw his urine on another inmate, one of 21 disciplinary offenses for which he was cited in prison.
He told the psychologist he did not intend to spread HIV to his partners.
"I was not trying to give them the highly infectious disease. I was selling drugs and moving too fast," Williams told Dr. Jacob Hadden of the state Office of Mental Health during a March interview at Wende Correctional Facility. "If I used protection, I wouldn't have it, either."
He said he would "stay in church" to ensure he doesn't offend again and planned to write three books about his life when freed. While prison records list him as Jewish, he said that was a ploy to get different food. He said he claimed to be Rastafarian when he first arrived in prison so he wouldn't have to cut his hair.
If released, Williams, who also goes by the name Shyteek Johnson, could offend again without the community knowing, Hadden said. Williams takes medication and has no symptoms, the report said.
"Mr. Johnson was having sexual intercourse several times per day and with many different partners. He targeted vulnerable individuals who were underage and/or drug addicted and used charm and coercion to secure sexual contact," Hadden wrote after the three-hour interview.
Two of the women who contracted HIV later had children born with the virus.
Daniel Grasso, the lawyer assigned to represent Williams just before the hearing, said the court would have to weigh Williams' needs against the risk to society in deciding whether he should remain locked up. He could also be placed on a highly supervised parole that would include treatment and monitoring, Grasso said.
"He's really stressed," his wife, Nina Williams, said after the hearing. "Everyone was waiting for him to come home. He was ready to get on with his life, start over."
A hearing is scheduled for May 6 to determine whether there is probable cause to hold Williams until a trial that would determine if he has a mental abnormality. The process could take months.
The state has civilly confined 123 sex offenders since the law was enacted.
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As a Muslim, as I always say, I consider God's law and that of his prophet above any other law 
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