Nation roundup for Feb. 6

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Sgt. Ed Troyer, Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman, said emails that Powell sent authorities seemed to confirm that Powell planned the deadly blast.

Law enforcement websites attacked

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Saboteurs stole passwords and sensitive information on tipsters while hacking into the websites of several law enforcement agencies worldwide in attacks attributed to the collective known as Anonymous.

Breaches were reported this week in Boston, Syracuse, N.Y., Salt Lake City and Greece.

Hackers gained access to the Salt Lake City Police Department website that gathers citizen complaints about drug and other crimes, including phone numbers, addresses and other personal data of informants, police said.

The website remained down Friday as police worked to make it more secure. Following a spate of arrests across the world, the group and its various offshoots have focused their attention on law enforcement agencies in general and the FBI in particular. The group also claimed responsibility for hacking the website of a Virginia law firm that represented a U.S. Marine involved in the deaths of civilians in Iraq in 2005.

Anonymous also published a recording on the Internet Friday of a phone call between the FBI and Scotland Yard.

 

Yemen’s leader excites protesters

NEW YORK (AP) — A protest against embattled Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh outside a luxury hotel in New York got heated Sunday when demonstrators saw him leave the building, with one charging toward him and another throwing a shoe.

“Everybody is living in fear of this guy at home, but here, he’s getting good treatment!” said Yemeni immigrant Nasser Almroot, a Brooklyn grocer.

The dozen angry protesters were kept behind police barricades across the street from the Ritz-Carlton hotel, which was teeming with security guards, both inside and on the sidewalk where Saleh passed. Saleh, 69, is visiting the United States for medical treatment.

He exited the hotel on Central Park South on Sunday and waved and smiled sardonically toward the yelling protesters — even blowing them a kiss.

 

11 arrested at Occupy D.C. site

WASHINGTON (AP) — Authorities say 11 people have been arrested in Washington’s McPherson Square since Park Police began clearing away tents from one of the nation’s last remaining Occupy sites.

David Schlosser, who is a spokesman for the U.S. Park Police, said Sunday that one of those arrested was charged with felony assault on a police officer and assault with a deadly weapon.

That person is accused of hitting an officer in the face with a brick Saturday evening. The officer was treated at a hospital. Three others were charged with assault on a police officer.

 

Man blows up himself, children

GRAHAM, Wash. (AP) — Days after a judge ruled against him in a child custody hearing, a father and his two young sons were killed Sunday when police said he intentionally blew up a house with all three inside — a tragic ending to a bizarre case that began more than two years ago when the man’s wife went mysteriously missing in Utah.

A social worker brought the two boys to Josh Powell’s home for what was to be a supervised visit, and Powell let his sons inside — but then blocked the social worker from entering, Graham Fire and Rescue Chief Gary Franz said. The social worker called her supervisors to report that she could smell gas, and moments later the home exploded.

Sgt. Ed Troyer, Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman, said emails that Powell sent authorities seemed to confirm that Powell planned the deadly blast.