A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Winfrey reveals she has half-sister
LOS ANGELES – Oprah Winfrey yesterday revealed that she had a half-sister that she only found out about late last year, saying the news left her speechless.
Welcoming single mother of two Patricia to a reunion on her daytime talk show, Winfrey said her mother Vernita Lee kept the birth in 1963 a secret and gave the baby up for adoption.
Winfrey (56) said she was only nine years old and living with her father when her mother became pregnant. “Imagine my shock just a few months ago, at the end of October, when I found out I have another sister living just 90 minutes away,” she said. –(Reuters)
Tucson suspect pleads not guilty
PHOENIX – Tucson shooting suspect Jared Lee Loughner has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of attempting to assassinate US representative Gabrielle Giffords and attempting to murder two of her staff members.
A college dropout, Mr Loughner (22) is accused of opening fire on Ms Giffords and a crowd of bystanders outside a grocery store in north Tucson on January 8th, killing six people, including a federal judge, and wounding 13. Ms Giffords was shot in the head but survived.
Mr Loughner said nothing as the plea of not guilty was entered yesterday on his behalf. – (Reuters)
Woman admits to kidnapping baby
NEW YORK – A woman who raised a child who went missing from a Harlem hospital 23 years ago as her own has confessed to the 1987 kidnapping of the baby, court documents revealed yesterday.
According to the criminal complaint filed in US federal court in Manhattan, Ann Pettway admitted to taking the baby from a Harlem hospital and bringing her to Connecticut when nobody tried to stop her.
Ms Pettway told investigators she had been dealing with the stress of several miscarriages.
“She’s pretty upset,” said Robert Baum, her attorney. “She understands the gravity of the charges.” – (Reuters)