Attorney seeks to use Boy Scout files in sex abuse trial

Attorney seeks to use Boy Scout files in sex abuse trial
 

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A lawsuit brought by a 20-year-old man who was molested by a Boy Scout leader in 2007 could force the organization to reveal 16 years' worth of "perversion" files documenting sex abuse allegations.

Files that were kept by the Boy Scouts of America between 1960 and 1991 already have been made public through other civil cases.

The release of the more recent files - from 1991 to 2007 - could reveal how much the Boy Scouts have improved their efforts to protect children and report abuse after several high-profile cases.

In 2012 the Oregon Supreme Court ordered the Scouts to make public a trove of files from 1965 to 1985. The records showed that more than a third of abuse allegations never were reported to police and that even when authorities were told, little was done most of the time.

Those documents came to light after a jury in 2010 imposed a nearly $20 million penalty against the Scouts in a molestation case in Portland, Oregon.

Since then, plaintiff attorneys in several states, including Texas and Minnesota, have sought to publicize the more recent records through similar lawsuits. Those cases have settled before trial, leaving the records sealed.

Now the issue moves to Santa Barbara County, where a judge will hear arguments Friday on whether to admit the documents as evidence. Jury selection is set to begin next week.

The issues at play with the Scouts are similar to legal battles over the release of confidential Roman Catholic clergy abuse files, said Jody Armour, a law professor at the University of Southern California.

The judge in the Boy Scouts case faces a balancing act between the privacy rights of the Scout leaders in the files and the duty to protect children.

However, "the Boy Scouts just aren't in a very sympathetic position," Armour said. "They seem to be trying to shield themselves from liability behind confidentiality and privacy."

In the Santa Barbara case, the lawsuit states, a 29-year-old Scout volunteer, Al Stein, pulled down the pants of a 13-year-old boy and fondled him while the child was working at a Christmas tree lot fundraiser. 

According to the civil complaint, the boy had bruising and lacerations at his beltline.

Stein had done something similar to a boy six months before, but the incident never was reported to the Boy 

Scout leadership even though another Scout volunteer knew of it, said Tim Hale, the plaintiff's attorney.

In the Oregon case, plaintiff's attorneys argued that Scout leaders knew about the background of the perpetrator. Those lawyers said the Boy Scouts referred to a subset of personnel documents that detail to sex abuse as "perversion" files.

The jury found the organization negligent for allowing former assistant scoutmaster Timur Dykes to associate with children after he acknowledged to a Boy Scout official in 1983 that he had molested 17 boys.

Stein, now 36, pleaded no contest to felony child endangerment in 2009 and was sentenced to two years in prison and paroled early. He was most recently living in Salinas, California, as a registered sex offender. He was banned from the Boy Scouts in 2007.

The Associated Press does not identify sex abuse victims unless they request it.

Hale called the files "by far the biggest evidence of this policy of secrecy and the shortcomings of the education provided" on sexual abuse.

"They had this wealth of information in the files that they could have used. Instead, they just sat on it," he said.

Paul Ryan Ortuno and Sheyanne Bane, attorneys for the Boy Scouts, did not return calls or emails seeking comment.

The Boy Scouts of America said in an emailed statement that Stein's behavior was "absolutely unacceptable" but did not address the larger issue of why the perversion files should remain private.

In court papers, the organization has argued that the files were used to keep track of unacceptable volunteers and keep them out of scouting and that releasing them is a violation of privacy.

The Scouts instituted mandatory reporting for suspected child abuse in 2010 and now has a requirement that children be accompanied by at least two adults at all times.

In 2012, Santa Barbara County Judge Donna Geck ordered the Scouts to turn over all files from 1991 to the present to Hale but ordered them kept under seal.

Last year, she narrowed the scope of the trial to exclude negligence in hiring and supervision, among other things, but ruled that the plaintiff could pursue punitive damages for negligent failure to educate and warn parents and volunteers about childhood sexual abuse.

If Hale prevails on Friday, he will be allowed to try to introduce certain documents from the files as evidence during trial. Documents that are not part of the trial will remain sealed, but the media and other interested parties could petition the judge to make them public.

That's what happened in Oregon. After the 2010 verdict, the Oregon Supreme Court ordered the Scouts to release the files with the victims' names redacted after The Associated Press and other media outlets sought their release.

 

Roger Robbie, the Hip Hop Raccoon

Obama calls French shooting 'cowardly evil attacks'

Obama calls French shooting 'cowardly evil attacks' 

President Barack Obama pauses while speaking to members of the media prior to his meeting with Secretaryof State John Kerry and Vice President Joe Biden, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. Obama called the shootings at French newspaper a 'cowardly evil attack' on journalists and a free press.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama called Wednesday's deadly shooting at a satirical newspaper in Paris "cowardly evil attacks" on journalists and a free press and vowed to help France pursue the terrorists who went on the run.

Obama said the attack that left 12 dead in France's deadliest terror attack in at least two decades is a reminder that such tragedies can occur anywhere in the world. He promised to stay vigilant and "hunt down and bring the perpetrators of this specific act to justice, and to roll up the networks that help to advance these kinds of plots."

"The fact that this was an attack on journalists, attack on our free press, also underscores the degree to which these terrorists fear freedom of speech and freedom of the press," Obama said from the Oval Office during a meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice President Joe Biden.

"But the one thing that I'm very confident about is that the values that we share with the French people, a belief - a universal belief in the freedom of expression, is something that can't be silenced because of the senseless violence of the few," he added.

Obama later telephoned French President Francois Hollande from Air Force One en route to Detroit for a speech. Obama offered his condolences and expressed solidarity with Hollande and the people of France, the White House said in a statement. Obama also offered help from the United States as France tries to bring the perpetrators of the attack, and any possible accomplices, to justice.

Hollande thanked Obama for his support and updated the president on steps to care for victims and arrest those responsible, the White House said.

Three masked gunmen stormed the office of the satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo at noon-time on Wednesday and then escaped in a car. Charlie Hebdo has been repeatedly threatened for its caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad and other controversial sketches.

Witnesses said the shooters shouted "Allahu akbar!" France raised its security alert to the highest level, as thousands honored the victims from Republique Square in Paris.

"What that beautiful city represents - the culture and the civilization that is so central to our imaginations - that's going to endure," Obama said. "And those who carry out senseless attacks against innocent civilians, ultimately they'll be forgotten."

Earnest said U.S. officials have been in touch with French counterparts but it's "still in the early stages" of figuring out who was responsible for the attack and he couldn't say whether the gunmen were tied to a specific terror group.

"We're still trying to figure out who is responsible for this attack and what their motivations are but as a general matter, we're very mindful of the threat from foreign fighters and the need to try to counter some of the extremist ideology that ISIL is propagating," Earnest said, using an acronym for Islamic State militants.

Asked about what responsibility news organizations had when it comes to publishing provocative material, Earnest said, "There is no legitimate act of journalism - however offensive some people might find it - that justifies an act of violence, particularly an act of violence on the scale we saw today. That said, it is up to media organizations to make their own decisions about what they choose to publish, what stories they choose to pursue and what sort of commentary they want to broadcast about the world."

Obama called France one of America's strongest allies in dealing with terrorists and said they had been with the U.S. "every moment" since the Sept. 11 attacks.

"For us to see the kind of cowardly evil attacks that took place today I think reinforces once again why it's so important for us to stand in solidarity with them, just as they stand in solidarity with us," Obama said.

Obama said he would be talking with Kerry about protecting Americans living across the globe. Later, Obama counterterrorism adviser Lisa Monaco told MSNBC that there's no evidence of any threat to U.S. personnel in Paris.

Kerry, who has visited Paris more than any other foreign city as America's top diplomat, spoke earlier from the State Department in both English and French to offer America's support.

"I would like to say directly to the people of Paris and of all of France that each and every American stands with you today - not just in horror or in anger or in outrage at this vicious act of violence - but we stand with you in solidarity and in commitment both to the cause of confronting extremism and in the cause which the extremists fear so much," Kerry said.

French police hunt gunmen who killed 12 at weekly newspaper

French police hunt gunmen who killed 12 at weekly newspaper 

French President Francois Hollande, center, flanked with security forces arrives outside the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo's office, in Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015. Masked gunmen stormed the offices of a French satirical newspaper Wednesday, killing at least 11 people before escaping, police and a witness said. The weekly has previously drawn condemnation from Muslims.

  

PARIS (AP) -- Police hunted for three heavily armed men with possible links to al-Qaida in the military-style, methodical killing of 12 people Wednesday at the office of a satirical newspaper that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad.

President Francois Hollande, visiting the scene of France's deadliest such attack in more than half a century, called the assault on the weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo "an act of exceptional barbarism."

France raised its terror alert system to the maximum - Attack Alert - and bolstered security with more than 800 extra soldiers to guard media offices, places of worship, transport and other sensitive areas. Fears had been running high in France and elsewhere in Europe that jihadis returning from conflicts in Syria and Iraq would stage attacks at home.

Two officials identified the suspects as French brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi, in their early 30s, and 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad, whose nationality wasn't immediately clear.

Heavily armed police moved into the city of Reims, in France's Champagne country east of Paris, apparently searching for the suspects. Video from BFM-TV showed police dressed in white apparently taking samples inside an apartment. It was not immediately clear who lived there.

One of the police officials said they were linked to a Yemeni terrorist network, and Cedric Le Bechec, a witness who encountered the escaping gunmen, quoted the attackers as saying: "You can tell the media that it's al-Qaida in Yemen."

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the sensitive and ongoing investigation.

Cherif Kouachi was sentenced to 18 months in prison after being convicted of terrorism charges in 2008 for helping funnel fighters to Iraq's insurgency. He said he was outraged at the torture of Iraqi inmates at the U.S. prison at Abu Ghraib near Baghdad.

The masked, black-clad men with assault rifles stormed the offices near Paris' Bastille monument in the Wednesday noontime attack on the publication, which had long drawn condemnation and threats - it was firebombed in 2011 - for its depictions of Islam, although it also satirized other religions and political figures.

Shouting "Allahu akbar!" as they fired, the men used fluent, unaccented French as they called out the names of specific employees.

Artist Corinne Rey told the French newspaper L'Humanite that she punched in the security code to the Charlie Hebdo offices after she and her young daughter were "brutally threatened" by the gunmen.

Eight journalists, two police officers, a maintenance worker and a visitor were killed, said prosecutor Francois Molins. He said 11 people were wounded - four of them seriously.

After fleeing, the attackers collided with another vehicle, then carjacked another car before disappearing in broad daylight, Molins said.

Among the dead: the paper's editor, Stephane Charbonnier.

The staff was in an editorial meeting and the gunmen headed straight for Charbonnier - widely known by his pen name Charb - killing him and his police bodyguard first, said Christophe Crepin, a police union spokesman.

Rey said the assault "lasted five minutes. I hid under a desk."

Two gunmen strolled out to a black car waiting below, one of them calmly shooting a wounded police officer in the head as he writhed on the ground, according to video and a man who watched in fear from his home across the street.

The witness, who refused to allow his name to be used because he feared for his safety, said the attackers were so methodical he first thought they were members of France's elite anti-terrorism forces. Then they fired on the officer.

"They knew exactly what they had to do and exactly where to shoot. While one kept watch and checked that the traffic was good for them, the other one delivered the final coup de grace," he said.

"Hey! We avenged the Prophet Muhammad! We killed Charlie Hebdo," one of the men shouted in French, according to video shot from a nearby building.

The other dead were identified as cartoonists Georges Wolinski and Berbard Verlhac, better known as Tignous, and Jean Cabut, known as "Cabu." Also killed was Bernard Maris, an economist who was a contributor to the newspaper and was heard regularly on French radio.

Le Bechec, the witness who encountered the gunmen in another part of Paris, described on his Facebook page seeing two men "get out of a bullet-ridden car with a rocket-launcher in hand, eject an old guy from his car and calmly say hi to the public, saying `you can tell the media that it's al-Qaida in Yemen.'"

Charlie Hebdo has been repeatedly threatened for its caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad and other sketches. One cartoon, released in this week's issue and titled "Still No Attacks in France," had a caricature of a jihadi fighter saying "Just wait - we have until the end of January to present our New Year's wishes." Charb was the artist.

In a somber address to the nation Wednesday night, Hollande pledged to hunt down the killers, and pleaded with his compatriots to come together in a time of insecurity and suspicion.

"Let us unite, and we will win," he said. "Vive la France!"

France raised its security alert to the highest level and reinforced protective measures at houses of worship, stores, media offices and transportation. Schools closed across Paris, although thousands of people later jammed Republique Square near the site of the shooting to honor the victims, waving pens and papers reading "Je suis Charlie" - "I am Charlie." Similar rallies were held in London's Trafalgar Square as well as Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin and Brussels.

"This is the darkest day of the history of the French press," said Christophe DeLoire of Reporters Without Borders.

Both al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have repeatedly threatened to attack France, which is conducting airstrikes against extremists in Iraq and fighting Islamic militants in Africa.

During Cherif Kouachi's 2008 trial, he told the court, "I really believed in the idea" of fighting the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.

In the winter 2014 edition of the al-Qaida magazine Inspire, a so-called chief describing where to use a new bomb said: "Of course the first priority and the main focus should be on America, then the United Kingdom, then France and so on."

In 2013, the magazine specifically threatened Charb and included an article titled "France the Imbecile Invader."

The attack was condemned by world leaders.

President Barack Obama offered U.S. help in pursuing the gunmen, saying they had attacked freedom of expression. He offered prayers and support for France, which he called "America's oldest ally."

British Prime Minister David Cameron said his country stood united with France,

"We stand squarely for free speech and democracy. These people will never be able to take us off those values," Cameron said in the House of Commons.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also condemned the attack as a "cynical crime," and pledged cooperation in fighting terrorism.

"I think all of Europe is crying today," said Italian Premier Matteo Renzi. "All the free world is crying. All men and women who believe in freedom and reason are crying."

Salman Rushdie, who spent years in hiding after his novel, "The Satanic Verses," drew a death edict from Iran's religious authorities, said all must stand with Charlie Hebdo "to defend the art of satire, which has always been a force for liberty and against tyranny, dishonesty and stupidity."

Mohammed Moussaoui, president of the Union of French mosques, condemned the "hateful act," and urged Muslims and Christians "to intensify their actions to give more strength to this dialogue, to make a united front against extremism."

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation based in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, which represents 57 Muslim-majority nations, added its condemnation, saying that violence and radicalism were the biggest enemies of Islam and went against all its fundamental principles and values.

A tweet from an al-Qaida representative who communicated Wednesday with The Associated Press said the group was not claiming responsibility for the attack, but called it "inspiring."

Supporters of militant Islamic groups praised it. One self-described Tunisian loyalist of al-Qaida and the Islamic State group tweeted that the attack was well-deserved revenge against France.

The hashtag (hash)JeSuisCharlie was trending as people expressed support for the weekly and for journalistic freedom. The weekly's website collapsed earlier Wednesday but was later restored.

It was the deadliest attack on journalists since 2009, when 32 journalists were killed in an ambush on a political convoy in the southern Philippines.

Philippe Val, one-time Charlie Hebdo chief, raised the possibility of publishing a special edition of the newspaper, saying "a way of speaking has been exterminated."

"We must respond, because we must testify for them," he told RTL radio.

No motive for attack that wounded 3 and left baby dead

No motive for attack that wounded 3 and left baby dead 

RETRANSMISSION TO UPDATE THAT THE MISSING BABY WAS FOUND DECEASED - Missing baby Eliza Delacruz is seen in an undated photo provided by the Long Beach Police Department. The 3-week-old baby who was abducted after her parents and another adult were wounded in a shooting at a Long Beach residence has been found dead and authorities are searching for a suspect. The child had been declared missing when police went to the home in the evening of Jan. 3, 2015, after receiving a call about the shooting and found two brothers and the baby's mother with gunshot wounds. One of the brothers is the father of the child.

LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) -- Police are pleading for the public's help finding a gunman who wounded three members of a California family and stole a 3-week-old baby girl who was later found dead in a trash bin near the Mexican border.

Investigators have no leads and no motive for the weekend attack, which took place in a densely populated neighborhood, Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna said at a Monday afternoon news conference.

"Somebody somewhere saw what happened, and we need you to come forward," Luna said.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors planned to offer a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction, he said.

The baby, a 10-pound girl named Eliza Delacruz, was found dead Sunday in a trash bin behind a strip mall in Imperial Beach, about 120 miles south of the Long Beach neighborhood where her father, mother and uncle were shot a day earlier.

The mother and uncle remained hospitalized in critical condition.

A homeless man discovered the infant's body in the city near Mexico, raising the possibility that the assailant crossed or hoped to cross the border. Mourners erected a makeshift memorial of candles and flowers outside a pizza shop at the mall.

"To take a precious child from home, throw her in a dumpster like a piece of trash, is something only a very heartless person would do," Luna said.

Long Beach detectives believe the family was targeted for some reason but do not yet know the motive, police spokeswoman Marlene Arrona said earlier. They would say only that they are looking for a man who is either black or Hispanic.

The family's Long Beach residence showed no sign of forced entry, and nothing was taken, homicide Lt. Lloyd Cox told the Long Beach Press-Telegram on Sunday.

"We believe that this is not a random act," Cox said. "We are going through the backgrounds of all the individuals who live here, but it appears to be very personal."

The San Diego County medical examiner's office said it was unknown where or when the infant died before her body was found. An autopsy had not yet been performed, and no cause of death was released.

Aaron Cruz lives next door to the victims' two-story stucco house in a working-class neighborhood. He said the baby's father is a veterinary technician who works six days a week and was thrilled to be a dad at age 23.

Cruz, who described himself as the man's best friend, said the family often hosted large barbecues and parties on their front lawn after moving in a few years ago.

The baby's parents and uncle lived there with another uncle and the baby's grandparents, but no one else was there when the shooting happened, Cruz said.

"He had just gotten off work, and this happened to him. It was a normal day for him," he said. "This was out of nowhere."

Cruz recalled a large baby shower with dancing that the family threw in November.

"It was his first and only daughter," Cruz said, as he relit candles that had fizzled out in the breeze. "He was robbed of fatherhood."

A trickle of mourners went by the family's home Monday. Christmas lights hung on the porch over a string of yellow police tape, and a wreath decorated the door.

Joseph Guerrero stopped with his wife and 4-year-old son to leave a candle and balloon. He didn't know the victims but was moved by the infant's death.

"We have three girls and our son, and when we were picking out the balloon, I just squeezed my daughter's hand thinking about what they were going through," he said.

A woman who identified herself as the baby's grandmother and the mother of the two injured brothers also stopped by but left in tears without going inside the house.

Meanwhile, police defended their decision not to issue an Amber Alert for the baby because they lacked a description of the suspect's vehicle.

"One of the criteria for that is having a license plate number. We don't even have that," Arrona said.

Investigators were asking anyone with information to call or send tips to their anonymous hotline. "We really need the public's help," Arrona said.

 

Mayor eulogizes officer as cops outside turn backs

Mayor eulogizes officer as cops outside turn backs 
 

Some police officers turn their backs as Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks during the funeral of New York Police Department Officer Wenjian Liu at Aievoli Funeral Home, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2015, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Liu and his partner, officer Rafael Ramos, were killed Dec. 20 as they sat in their patrol car on a Brooklyn street. The shooter, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, later killed himself.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Thousands of police turned their backs Sunday as Mayor Bill de Blasio eulogized an officer shot dead with his partner, repeating a stinging display of scorn for the mayor despite entreaties to put anger aside.

The show of disrespect came outside the funeral home where Officer Wenjian Liu was remembered as an incarnation of the American dream: a man who had emigrated from China at age 12 and devoted himself to helping others in his adopted country. The gesture among officers watching the mayor's speech on a screen added to tensions between the mayor and rank-and-file police even as he sought to quiet them.

"Let us move forward by strengthening the bonds that unite us, and let us work together to attain peace," de Blasio said at the funeral.

Liu, 32, had served as a policeman for seven years and was married just two months when he was killed with his partner, Officer Rafael Ramos, on Dec. 20. Liu's longtime aspiration to become a police officer deepened after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, his father, Wei Tang Liu, said through tears.

And as he finished his daily work, the only child would call to say: "I'm coming home today. You can stop worrying now," the father recalled during a service that blended police tradition with references to Buddha's teachings.

Dignitaries including FBI Director James Comey and members of Congress joined police officers from around the country in a throng of over 10,000 mourners.

"When one of us loses our lives, we have to come together," said Officer Lucas Grant of the Richmond County Sheriff's Office in Augusta, Georgia.

After hundreds of officers turned their backs to a screen where de Blasio's remarks played during Ramos' funeral last week, Police Commissioner William Bratton sent a memo urging respect, declaring "a hero's funeral is about grieving, not grievance."

But some officers and police retirees said they still felt compelled to spurn the mayor. Police union leaders have said he contributed to an environment that allowed the officers' slayings by supporting protests following the police killings of Eric Garner on Staten Island and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

"The mayor has no respect for us. Why should we have respect for him?" said retired New York Police Department Detective Camille Sanfilippo, who was among those who turned their backs Sunday. Retired NYPD Sgt. Laurie Carson called the action "our only way to show our displeasure with the mayor."

Officers spun back around when Bratton took the podium to speak. Later, de Blasio stood outside the funeral home, to no visible reaction from officers, observing an honor guard and other rituals.

At Liu's wake Saturday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo called the officers' slayings a tragic story of "pure and random hatred." Cuomo didn't attend the funeral, which came as he prepared to bury his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo.

The officers' killer, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, committed suicide shortly after the brazen daytime ambush on a Brooklyn street. Investigators say Brinsley was an emotionally disturbed loner who had made references online to the killings this summer of unarmed black men at the hands of white police officers, vowing to put "wings on pigs" in retaliation.

The deaths strained an already tense relationship between city police unions and de Blasio. Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch, whose rank-and-file union is negotiating a contract with the city, turned his back on the mayor at a hospital the day of the killings and said de Blasio had "blood on his hands."

Many people, including Cardinal Timothy Dolan, have since pressed all parties to tone down the rhetoric. On Saturday, officers standing outside Liu's wake saluted as the mayor and commissioner entered.

After Sunday's show of disdain, Lynch said officers "have a right to have our opinion heard, like everyone else that protests out in the city" and noted that officers' "organic gesture" was outside the service. The mayor got a respectful reception among police officials inside.

The NYPD declined to comment, and de Blasio spokesman Phil Walzak said the mayor was focused on honoring the fallen officers.

But outside, retired NYPD officer John Mangan stood with a sign that read: "God Bless the NYPD. Dump de Blasio." And Patrick Yoes, a national secretary with the 328,000-member Fraternal Order of Police, praised Lynch's stance toward the mayor.

"Across this country, we seem to be under attack in the law enforcement profession," Yoes said. "We are public servants. We are not public enemies."

George Breedy, a lieutenant with the St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Department in Louisiana, said he wouldn't protest de Blasio. "We're here to pay respect to the officers," Breedy said.

Liu's funeral arrangements were delayed so relatives from China could travel to New York, where he married Pei Xia Chen this fall.

"He is my soul mate," she said. "My hero."

Nina Milano: Philadelphia Front Page News Out And About Sexy Model

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Searchers find wreckage, bodies from AirAsia jet

Searchers find wreckage, bodies from AirAsia jet

Commander of 1st Indonesian Air Force Operational Command Rear Marshall Dwi Putranto, right, shows airplane parts and a suitcase found floating on the water near the site where AirAsia Flight 8501 disappeared, during a press conference at the airbase in Pangkalan Bun, Central Borneo, Indonesia, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014. Bodies and debris seen floating in Indonesian waters Tuesday, painfully ended the mystery of AirAsia Flight 8501, which crashed into the Java Sea and was lost to searchers for more than two days. The writings on the suitcase reads "Recovered by KRI Bung Tomo." KRI Bung Tomo is the name of an Indonesian Navy ship. The numbers on the suitcase are the coordinates.

 

PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia (AP) -- The first proof of the fate of AirAsia Flight 8501 emerged Tuesday from the shallow, aqua-colored waters of the Java Sea, confirming that the plane crashed with 162 people aboard in an area not far from where it dropped off radar screens.

Two days after the jet vanished, searchers found as many as six bodies and debris that included a life jacket, an emergency exit door and a suitcase about 10 miles from the plane's last known coordinates.

The airliner's disappearance halfway through a two-hour flight between Surabaya, Indonesia, and Singapore triggered an international hunt for the aircraft involving dozens of planes, ships and helicopters. It is still unclear what brought the plane down.

Images of the debris and a bloated body shown on Indonesian television sent a spasm of anguish through the room at the Surabaya airport where relatives awaited news.

The first sign of the jet turned up about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from its last known coordinates. Parts of the interior, including the oxygen tank, were brought to the nearest town, Pangkalan Bun. Another find included a bright blue plastic suitcase, completely unscratched.

"I know the plane has crashed, but I cannot believe my brother and his family are dead," said Ifan Joko, who lost seven relatives, three of them children, as they traveled to Singapore to ring in the new year. "We still pray they are alive."

First Adm. Sigit Setiayanta, commander of the Naval Aviation Center at Surabaya Air Force base, told reporters six corpses were spotted about 160 kilometers (100 miles) from Central Kalimantan province.

Rescue workers descended on ropes from a hovering helicopter to retrieve bodies. Efforts were hindered by 2-meter (6-foot) waves and strong winds, National Search and Rescue Director SB Supriyadi said.

The first body was later picked up by a navy ship. Officials said as many as six others followed, but they disagreed about the exact number.

Supriyadi was on the aircraft and saw what appeared to be more wreckage under the water, which was clear and a relatively shallow 20 to 30 meters (65 to 100 feet).

When TV broadcast an image of a half-naked man floating in the water, a shirt partially covering his head, many of the family members screamed and wailed uncontrollably. One middle-aged man collapsed and had to be carried out on a stretcher.

Their horror was captured by cameras on the other side of windows into the waiting room. Officials blacked out the glass later Tuesday evening.

Around 125 family members were planning to travel Wednesday to Pangkalan Bun to start identifying their loved ones. Body bags and coffins have been prepared at hospitals there. Dozens of elite military divers will join the massive search. They were desperate to search the water ahead of approaching rough weather.

Malaysia-based AirAsia's loss comes on top of the still-unsolved disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in March with 239 people aboard, and the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in July over Ukraine, which killed all 298 passengers and crew.

Nearly all the passengers and crew were Indonesians, who are frequent visitors to Singapore, particularly on holidays.

Haidar Fauzie, 60, said his youngest child and only daughter, Khairunnisa Haidar, was a flight attendant who had worked with AirAsia for two years.

On learning about the crash, he struggled to console his grieving wife. They last saw their child six weeks ago, when she returned home on holiday.

"From the start, we already knew the risks associated with being a stewardess," Fauzie said. "She is beautiful and smart. It has always been her dream to fly. We couldn't have stopped her."

AirAsia group CEO Tony Fernandes, the airline's founder and public face and a constant presence in Indonesia since the tragedy started unfolding, said he planned to travel to the recovery site on Wednesday.

"I have apologized profusely for what they are going through," he said of his contact with relatives. "I am the leader of this company, and I have to take responsibility. That is why I'm here. I'm not running away from my obligations."

The jet's last communication indicated the pilots were worried about bad weather. They sought permission to climb above threatening clouds but were denied because of heavy air traffic. Four minutes later, the jet disappeared from the radar without issuing a distress signal.

The plane's cockpit voice and flight data recorders, or black boxes, have yet to be recovered. Scott Hamilton, managing director of aviation consultancy Leeham Co., said in a post on his website that autopsies may provide some of the earliest clues about what happened.

"If death was due to blunt-force trauma, this could suggest passengers were alive upon impact with the water," he wrote. "If death came from other circumstances, this could suggest an explosive decompression and in-flight break up occurred."

Several countries rushed to Indonesia to help with search and recovery efforts.

The United States said it was sending the USS Sampson destroyer, joining at least 30 ships, 15 aircraft and seven helicopters in the search for the jet.

A Chinese frigate was on the way. Singapore said it was sending two underwater beacon detectors to try to pick up pings from the plane's all-important cockpit voice and flight-data recorders. Malaysia, Australia and Thailand are also involved in the search.

 

AirAsia plane carrying 162 lost in stormy weather

AirAsia plane carrying 162 lost in stormy weather 

A relative of AirAsia flight QZ8501 passengers weeps as she waits for the latest news on the missing jetliner at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2014. A massive sea search was underway for the AirAsia plane that disappeared Sunday while flying from Indonesia to Singapore through airspace possibly thick with dense storm clouds, strong winds and lightning, officials said.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- An astonishingly tragic year for air travel in Southeast Asia turned worse Sunday when an AirAsia plane carrying 162 people disappeared over stormy Indonesian waters, with no word on its fate despite several hours of searching by air and sea.

AirAsia Flight 8501 vanished in airspace thick with storm clouds on its way from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore. Searchers had to fight against heavy rain.

The Malaysia-based carrier's loss comes on top of the still-unexplained disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in March and the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in July over Ukraine.

At the Surabaya airport, passengers' relatives pored over the plane's manifest, crying and embracing. Nias Adityas, a housewife from Surabaya, was overcome with grief when she found the name of her husband, Nanang Priowidodo, on the list.

The 43-year-old tour agent had been taking a family of four on a trip to Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia's Lombok island, and had been happy to get the work.

"He just told me, `Praise God, this new year brings a lot of good fortune,'" Adityas recalled, holding her grandson tight while weeping uncontrollably. "He apologized because he could not join us for the new year celebration."

Nearly all the passengers and crew are Indonesians, who are frequent visitors to Singapore, particularly on holidays.

The Airbus A320 took off Sunday morning from Indonesia's second-largest city and was about halfway to Singapore when it vanished from radar. The jet had been airborne for about 42 minutes.

There was no distress signal from the twin-engine, single-aisle plane, said Djoko Murjatmodjo, Indonesia's acting director general of transportation.

The last communication between the cockpit and air traffic control was at 6:13 a.m. (23:13 GMT Saturday), when one of the pilots "asked to avoid clouds by turning left and going higher to 34,000 feet (10,360 meters)," Murjatmodjo said. The jet was last seen on radar at 6:16 a.m. and was gone a minute later, he told reporters.

Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia launched a search-and-rescue operation near Belitung island in the Java Sea, the area where the airliner lost contact with the ground.

The air search was suspended Sunday evening and was to resume Monday morning, said Achmad Toha of Indonesia's search-and-rescue agency. Some ships continued looking for the aircraft overnight, he said.

AirAsia group CEO Tony Fernandes flew to Surabaya and told a news conference that the focus should be on the search and the families rather than the cause of the incident.

"We have no idea at the moment what went wrong," said Fernandes, a Malaysian businessman who founded the low-cost carrier in 2001. "Let's not speculate at the moment."

Malaysia-based AirAsia has a good safety record and had never lost a plane before.

"This is my worst nightmare," Fernandes tweeted.

But Malaysia itself has already endured a catastrophic year, with 239 people still missing from Flight 370 and all 298 people aboard Flight 17 killed when it was shot down over rebel-held territory in Ukraine.

AirAsia said Flight 8501 was on its submitted flight plan but had requested a change due to weather.

Sunardi, a forecaster at Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency, said dense storm clouds were detected up to 13,400 meters (44,000 feet) in the area at the time.

"There could have been turbulence, lightning and vertical as well as horizontal strong winds within such clouds," said Sunardi, who like many Indonesians uses only one name.

Airline pilots routinely fly around thunderstorms, said John Cox, a former accident investigator. Using on-board radar, flight crews can typically see a storm forming from more than 100 miles away.

In such cases, pilots have plenty of time to find a way around the storm cluster or look for gaps to fly through, he said.

"It's not like you have to make an instantaneous decision," Cox said. Storms can be hundreds of miles long, but "because a jet moves at 8 miles a minute, if you to go 100 miles out of your way, it's not a problem."

It was unclear based on comments from authorities what air traffic controllers saw on their screens when the plane disappeared from radar, he noted.

Authorities have not said whether they lost only the secondary radar target, which is created by the plane's transponder, or whether the primary radar target, which is created by energy reflected from the plane's body, was lost as well, Cox said.

The plane had an Indonesian captain and a French co-pilot, five cabin crew members and 155 passengers, including 16 children and one infant, the airline said in a statement. Among the passengers were three South Koreans, a Malaysian, a British national and his 2-year-old Singaporean daughter. The rest were Indonesians.

AirAsia said the captain has a total of 6,100 flying hours, but Fernandes later said the number is more than 20,000. The first officer has 2,275 flying hours.

At Surabaya airport, dozens of relatives sat in a room waiting for news, many of them talking on mobile phones and crying. Some looked dazed.

Dimas, who goes by one name, said his wife, 30-year-old Ratri Sri Andriani, had been on the flight to lead a group of 25 Indonesian tourists on a trip to Singapore and Malaysia. He was holding out hope that the plane had made an emergency landing.

"We can just pray and hope that all those aboard are safe," said Dimas, who was surrounded by Ratri's parents and friends at the airport crisis center. "We are worried, of course, but we have to surrender to her fate."

Indonesia's search-and-rescue head, Bambang Soelistyo, said his agency would search Monday with 12 ships and three helicopters, along with five military aircraft and a number of warships.

Malaysia and Singapore each planned to deploy one C-130 plane and three ships. Australia will also help, he added.

The missing aircraft was delivered to AirAsia in October 2008, and the plane had accumulated about 23,000 flight hours during some 13,600 flights, Airbus said in a statement.

The aircraft had last undergone scheduled maintenance on Nov. 16, according to AirAsia.

The airline, which has dominated cheap travel in Southeast Asia for years, flies short routes of just a few hours, connecting the region's large cities. Recently, it has tried to expand into long-distance flying through sister airline AirAsia X.

Fernandes, who is the face of AirAsia and an active Twitter user, stirred controversy earlier this year after incorrectly tweeting that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 had landed safely.

William Waldock, an expert on air crash search and rescue with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona, cautioned against drawing comparisons to Flight 370.

The circumstances bode well for finding Flight 8501 since the intended flight time was less than two hours, and there is a known position where the plane disappeared, he said.

The A320 family of jets, which includes the A319 and A321, has a good safety record, with just 0.14 fatal accidents per million takeoffs, according to a safety study published by Boeing in August.

Flight 8501 disappeared while at its cruising altitude, which is usually the safest part of a trip. Just 10 percent of fatal crashes from 2004 to 2013 occurred while a plane was in that stage of flight, the safety report said.

 

10th anniversary of tsunami is marked with tears

10th anniversary of tsunami is marked with tears 

Jenny Brand, from Sweden, center, who had friends that were victims of the Asian tsunami, releases a lantern which symbolizes the releasing of spirits, amidst hundreds of others during a commemoration service to mark the 10th anniversary of the day this natural disaster happened, Friday, Dec. 26, 2014 in Ban Nam Khem, Thailand. Dec. 26 marks the 10th anniversary of one of the deadliest natural disasters in world history: a tsunami, triggered by a massive earthquake off the Indonesian coast, that left more than 230,000 people dead in 14 countries and caused about $10 billion in damage.

PERELIYA, Sri Lanka (AP) -- A packed train in Sri Lanka that was swept off the tracks by waves as big as elephants. A boat patrolling off Thailand's shore hurled more than a mile inland. Streets in Indonesia turned into roaring rivers that carried people to their deaths.

Vivid and terrifying memories such as these were recalled Friday at ceremonies marking the 10th anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami that left nearly a quarter-million people dead in one of modern history's worst natural disasters.

The Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami was triggered by a magnitude-9.1 earthquake - the region's most powerful in 40 years - that tore open the seabed off Indonesia's Sumatran coast, displacing billions of tons of water and sending waves roaring across the Indian Ocean at jetliner speeds as far away as East Africa.

Weeping survivors and others took part in beachside memorials and religious services across Asia, while some European countries also marked the anniversary, remembering the thousands of Christmastime tourists who died in the disaster.

Pain and hope alike were harvested from the tragedy.

"There is no need for anyone to remind us - the sorrow will be there until I stop breathing," said Kapila Migelratne, a 50-year-old businessman who lost his 14-year-old son and his brother when the train they were riding was derailed along Sri Lanka's shoreline. More than 35,000 people in Sri Lanka died in the tsunami, including as many as 2,000 in what is regarded as the world's worst train accident.

In the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, where more than 6,000 people died, Liguvariyal Daveed - a tsunami survivor who lost her son, mother and two grandchildren in the disaster - said the fear from that day remains with her.

"Whenever we see the ocean, we get reminded of how this same ocean took away all these people," she said at a memorial ceremony in the town of Kanyakumari. "You can't even imagine how much we fear the sea now. We didn't even want to stay close to it, so we moved ... away from the sea, in a small house allotted to me by the government."

In Europe, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven delivered a speech at a ceremony at Uppsala Cathedral, just north of Stockholm, to remember the 543 Swedes who died. President Joachim Gauck of Germany, which lost more than 500 people, said: "Locals and tourists found themselves in a situation in which they had a shared destiny, a bond which can still be felt today."

Those at a memorial service in southern Thailand included European tsunami survivors, who were serenaded by a small orchestra and took part in a minute of silence and a candlelight ceremony. About half of Thailand's 8,212 dead were foreign tourists, mostly Europeans escaping the winter cold.

The ceremony was held in the resort area of Khao Lak, next to a police boat that was out at sea when the tsunami struck and was carried 2 kilometers inland by the waves. The boat has become a permanent memorial to the power of the tsunami.

Many at the memorial ceremonies celebrated how people - locals and the international community alike - pulled together in the wake of the tragedy, saving strangers and launching a process to build back better.

Czech supermodel Petra Nemcova was vacationing in Khao Lak with her fiance, Simon Atlee, when the waves struck. He drowned and she barely survived with serious injuries, including a broken pelvis. After recovering, she founded the Happy Hearts Fund to rebuild schools devastated by natural disasters.

"Ten years ago, everyone who is present here today got connected in a very profound way, and through our experience, which we have shared, our lives have been connected ever since," Nemcova told the crowd at Friday's ceremony. "The 2004 tsunami didn't connect just those of us here, but the whole world, as individuals, families and countries have been asking, `How can we help?'"

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha noted that the tragedy "allowed us see the kindness and help that came from around the world that helped us pass through the difficult time."

Indonesia's Aceh province, which was closest to the quake's epicenter, was hit first and hardest. Initially, the quake toppled homes and buildings and sent communities rushing into the streets in panic.

About 20 minutes later, a wall of water up to 10 meters (33 feet) high surged inland for miles with seemingly unstoppable force, carrying along trees, houses, train cars - and thousands of people - in a churning rush.

More than 170,000 people died in Indonesia alone, about three-quarters of the overall death toll.

Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla led a prayer ceremony in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province. He and other officials placed flowers at a mass grave where thousands of unknown tsunami victims were buried.

"Here in this field 10 years ago ... we tearfully saw thousands of corpses lying," Kalla said. "No words can describe our human feelings at that time - confused, shocked, sad, scared - in seeing the suffering of the people in Aceh. But we could not remain in sadness. Aceh had to rise again, and all Indonesians in this archipelago helped, and people all over the world offered their assistance."

In Sri Lanka, survivors and other mourners took a memorial journey to honor those lost in the train accident.

The Queen of the Sea was chugging down Sri Lanka's palm-fringed southwestern coast, headed from Colombo, the capital, to the town of Matara, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) away, when the tsunami struck. Waves described by survivors as being as big as elephants enveloped the train, lifting its cars off the track into a thick marsh in Pereliya village.

The dead included more than 400 villagers who tried to escape the waves by climbing on top of the eight-coach train. Only a few dozen passengers are believed to have survived.

The memorial ride on Friday included the train's original Engine 591 and five restored coaches. They were decorated with Buddhist flags for the occasion, and Buddhist chants were played throughout the journey, which replicated the train's ill-fated route.

At a memorial in Pereliya, Buddhist, Christian and Hindu rituals were performed and tearful relatives lit candles and offered flowers.

Shanthi Gallage, along with her husband and two daughters, was riding home on the train after a Christmas visit to relatives when the waves struck.

She saw her husband alive, trapped under a log, when she set out to find her daughters. But later she was told that her husband had died and been buried in a mass grave. She found one daughter, but never found the other, who was 13.

"I believe that she is alive and someone keeping her will return her to me today," said Gallage, who carries portraits of her husband and missing daughter. "There are people who tell me to forget about it, but I don't talk to them anymore. When I try to give it up, something prompts me not to, and I pray and search for her."

 

More protests sparked after shooting near Ferguson

More protests sparked after shooting near Ferguson

Police guard the entrance to a gas station in front of a memorial to Antonio Martin on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014, in Berkeley, Mo. The mayor of the St. Louis suburb of Berkeley urged calm Wednesday after a white police officer killed the black 18-year-old who police said pointed a gun at him, reigniting tensions that have lingered since the death of Michael Brown in neighboring Ferguson.

 

BERKELEY, Mo. (AP) -- Demonstrators took to the streets for a second night after a white police officer in Berkeley, Missouri, killed a black 18-year-old who police said pointed a gun at him.

Dozens of protesters held a vigil late Wednesday at the gas station in the St. Louis suburb where Antonio Martin was shot, and they briefly blocked traffic on Interstate 170 during a march before returning to the station. Berkeley Police Chief Frank McCall told KMOV-TV that six to eight people were arrested.

Later, about 75 people staged a peaceful protest early Christmas morning outside of a nearby church, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Police in riot gear were present.

The actions were calmer than a night before, when a crowd of about 300 people gathered at the gas station, throwing rocks and bricks in a scene reminiscent of the sometimes-violent protests that followed the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson.

Unlike in the death of Brown, who was unarmed and whose shooting was not captured on video, Berkeley Mayor Theodore Hoskins said Wednesday that surveillance footage appeared to show Martin pulling a gun on the unidentified 34-year-old officer who questioned him and another man about a theft at a convenience store.

Hoskins urged calm, saying, "You couldn't even compare this with Ferguson or the Garner case in New York," a reference to the chokehold death of Eric Garner, another black man whose death was caused by a white police officer.

Hoskins, who is black, also noted that unlike in Ferguson - where a mostly white police force serves a mostly black community - more than half of the officers in his city of 9,000 are black, including top command staff.

State Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, a Democrat who has been critical of how police handled the Brown case, also said the Martin shooting was far different than Brown's, noting that Martin pointed a weapon at the officer.

"That officer not only has an obligation to protect the community, but he also has a responsibility to protect himself," said the senator, who is black. "Because of the video, it is more than apparent that his life was in jeopardy."

But Taurean Russell, co-founder of Hands Up United, asked if police had any reason to question Martin in the first place. Mistrust of police remains high among blacks, many of whom are weary of harassment, said Russell, who is black.

St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar did not provide more details Wednesday about the theft Martin was being asked about. He said Martin pulled a loaded 9mm handgun and the officer fired three shots while stumbling backward. One hit Martin, who didn't fire his own gun. He died at the scene.

"I don't know why the guy didn't get a shot off, whether his gun jammed or he couldn't get the safety off," said attorney Brian Millikan, who is representing the officer. He said that the officer was lucky to be alive and certain he had no choice but to use lethal force.

Police throughout the country have been on alert since two New York officers were gunned down in an ambush last weekend by a man who had made threatening posts online about killing police. He later killed himself.

St. Louis County police and the city of Berkeley are investigating the shooting of Martin, which Belmar called a tragedy for both Martin's family and the officer, who has been on the force for six years.

"He will carry the weight of this for the rest of his life, certainly for the rest of his career," Belmar said of the officer. "There are no winners here."

The officer wasn't wearing his body camera, and his cruiser's dashboard camera was not activated because the car's emergency lights were not on, Belmar said.

Police released surveillance video clips from three different angles. The men can be seen leaving the store as a patrol car drives up. The officer gets out and speaks with them.

About 90 seconds later, one appears to raise his arm, though it's difficult to see what he's holding because they were several feet from the camera. Belmar said it was a 9mm handgun with one round in the chamber and five more in the magazine.

Police were searching Wednesday for the other man, who ran away.

Belmar said Martin had a criminal record that included three assault charges, plus charges of armed robbery, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon.

Phone messages left for his parents were not returned. His mother, Toni Martin-Green, told the Post-Dispatch that Antonio was the oldest of four children.

"He's like any other kid who had dreams or hopes," she said. "We loved being around him. He'd push a smile out of you."

 

His was the third fatal shooting of a young black man by a white police officer in the St. Louis area since Brown was killed by Ferguson officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9. Kajieme Powell, 25, was killed Aug. 19 after approaching St. Louis officers with a knife. Vonderrit Myers, 18, was fatally shot on Oct. 8 after allegedly shooting at a St. Louis officer.

Each killing has led to protests, as did a grand jury's decision last month not to charge Wilson in Brown's death.

 

Cuba's relations with Catholic Church hit high point

Cuba's relations with Catholic Church hit high point
 

In this Dec. 1, 2014, a guard walks inside the chapel of the former University of Santo Thomas of Villanueva in Havana, Cuba. Since late 2009, President Raul Castro's government has been quietly returning some church property that was confiscated in the years after the Cuban revolution, including this chapel. The rest of the university property was not returned.

HAVANA (AP) -- Golden rays of tropical sunlight slant through the caved-in roof of Saint Thomas de Villanueva chapel, illuminating tiles graced by the faces of saints. Vandals shattered the stained-glass windows and scrawled their names on the thick walls during decades of frigid relations between the Roman Catholic Church and Cuba's communist government.

But a new chain-link fence surrounds the building, protecting it for a future that once seemed unimaginable.

The church is planning to restore the building to its former glory, along with more a dozen more churches, parish houses and other buildings, as part of a quiet reconciliation between the Catholic Church and the Cuban government that has brought relations to a historic high point this Christmas. Authorities have also given permission for the construction of the first two new churches in more than five decades.

After years of bridge-building behind closed doors, the Cuba-Vatican rapprochement burst into the headlines last week when the U.S. government credited Pope Francis with helping facilitate the secret reconciliation talks between the U.S. and Cuba. Francis wrote the leaders of both countries to invite them to resolve their differences.

Church officials and experts said the mediation and the renovation and construction of churches were essential parts of a fundamental shift in the dealings between the church and the communist state, which has been hostile toward religion for decades.

Developments "are heading in the same direction: a new chapter in the general and economic history of Cuba, and also church-state relations," said Enrique Lopez Oliva, a religious historian at the University of Havana.

The church and the Cuban state were in a state of open hostility in the years immediately after the 1959 revolution that put Fidel Castro in power, a time when some anti-Castro military used churches to store weapons.

Some priests were sent to labor camps. Churches were confiscated and used by the government as warehouses, bakeries, dining halls or schools.

Openly practicing Catholics were barred from holding public office and membership in the Communist Party. For the faithful, even winning admission to a university could be difficult, since the ubiquitous neighborhood watch committees kept a watchful eye on the populace.

But a thaw began in the 1990s as Cuba removed a constitutional clause declaring the country an officially atheist state. Pope John Paul II paid a momentous visit in 1998 and urged a new era of openness between Cuba and the world. After Benedict XVI visited in 2012, Cuba made Good Friday an official holiday.

Christmas decorations are increasingly visible in office buildings and homes each year. However, the church has made little headway in its hope for more access to state-controlled airwaves and permission to run religious schools.

Earlier this year the editors of a church magazine that has been one of the few independent publications in the country resigned, citing internal pressures from some who felt it was becoming too political.

According to a church member with direct knowledge of the matter, the handover of properties was part of negotiations between Castro and Cardinal Jaime Ortega in July 2010, when the church mediated the release of a group of jailed dissidents.

The properties include two churches, a parochial house and other real estate that was being used as stores in Santiago, Cuba's second-largest city; two plots of land and a chapel in the Bayamo-Manzanillo Diocesis; and the College of Jesuit Priests, a huge building that occupies more than a city block in Cienfuegos.

"It's a very positive gesture by authorities, restoring to a certain extent what belongs to the church, and above all it creates an atmosphere of trust," the Rev. Jose Felix Perez, adjunct secretary of the Cuban Catholic Bishops' Conference, told The Associated Press. "It's all happening, it must be said, gradually."

Ortega has publicly welcomed Castro's economic and social reforms, which have enabled hundreds of thousands of Cubans to work for small private businesses and made it much easier for islanders to travel overseas. Those reforms have not extended to political change, and the Communist Party is still the only one allowed.

Despite the gradual opening, experts say the percentage of Cubans who are practicing Catholics remains well below that of most of the rest of Latin America. For many Cubans, Christmas is a day off work to hang out with family and neighbors, with no spiritual component whatsoever.

Joel Dopico, president of the Cuban Council of Churches, said other evangelical and Protestant churches are also receiving properties from the state. He had no precise figures, but said the returns were less than what the Catholic Church has gotten.

"I think very highly of this state policy to return some properties," Dopico said. "It is part of the transformations that that are taking place in the country, where more and more the church will be able to carry out its work and support for the community."