LONDON
Storms in northern Europe kill at least 16, leave thousands of homes with no power
Associated Press
Powerful gales battered northern Europe, killing at least 16 people as the wind ripped roofs off houses, disrupted traffic and shipping and left thousands of homes without power yesterday.
Winds gusting at up to 120 miles an hour tore through Britain and Ireland Monday before heading across Scandinavia, Germany, Poland and Russia overnight, meteorologists reported.
In Britain, seven people died in gales that centered on northern England and Scotland. Scottish Hydroelectric said 8,000 homes remained without electricity yesterday.
Engineers worked through the night to restore electricity to tens of thousands of homes after high winds closed bridges, caused numerous road accidents and brought the area's rail network to a virtual standstill.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency issued 12 flood warnings while the Environment Agency had 23 flood warnings in force across Wales and England.
In Scotland, two people died when the wind overturned tractor-trailers, and a man was killed and a woman injured by a falling tree outside a hotel.
In northern England, two drivers and a passenger were killed in three accidents in which trucks were blown over or off the road. A woman was killed by a piece of stone carving that fell from a church in York.
In northern Germany, gales brought down trees and tore the roofs from a number of buildings including a 32,000 square-foot hall in the port city of Bremen, where a man was killed by a flying tree branch.
Falling trees killed a man in Oranienburg, near Berlin, and a 78-year-old woman in Wuelfrath, near Duesseldorf. In Travemuende, on the Baltic coast, the wind blew a ferry into a tugboat and both ran aground.
In western Poland, two men were killed when their car hit a fallen tree, and one person was killed by a falling tree. In Konon, a lamp post fell on a woman riding a bicycle, killing her.
Two thousand Polish communities remained without electricity yesterday.
In the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, two people were killed when high winds blew a tree onto their car.
In Scandinavia, high winds felled trees and electricity poles and disrupted shipping, but no one was reported injured.
NORTH PLATTE, NEB.
Man sentenced to 90 days in jail for tying up son, forcing him to touch corpse
Associated Press
A man accused of tying up his 7-year-old son and forcing him to touch a dead body has been sentenced to 90 days in jail.
Sean Von Eric Marshall was also sentenced Monday to 18 months probation and will receive counseling and parenting classes for the misdemeanor child abuse charge.
Authorities said Marshall was punishing the child last August when he allegedly tied himself to the boy, took him to a funeral home and forced him to touch a corpse.
Marshall also allegedly bound the boy's hands and feet, letting him free only to go to the bathroom or to sleep, then taped the boy's mouth when he tried to chew through the ropes.
Marshall's attorney said his client, who no longer has custody of the 7-year-old but also has a 1-year-old at home, was remorseful and has admitted he didn't have adequate parenting skills.
"He's willing to do whatever it takes to become a better parent," Blaine Gillett said.
Prosecutor Jeff Meyer said he thought the sentence was fair. "We've done the best that we could to ensure that any child connected to Marshall will not be subjected to abuse in the future," he said.
PHOENIX
Abortion doctor faces new 50-count indictment
Associated Press
An abortion doctor indicted last year on charges that he sexually abused patients is facing 50 new counts involving 26 additional victims and was arrested yesterday for a second time.
A new indictment handed up against Dr. Brian Finkel charges him with 43 counts of sexual abuse and seven counts of sexual assault.
He had originally been indicted on 16 counts of sexual abuse and one count of sexual assault in October. The original charges stemmed from allegations by nine of Finkel's patients.
The new charges stem from allegations made by 26 others, said Bill FitzGerald, a spokesman for Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley.
Romley said his office received more than 100 calls from women who made accusations against the doctor after the original indictment.
Finkel was being held yesterday on bonds totaling $650,000, FitzGerald said.
He said there was another phase to the investigation but couldn't comment on what it was focusing on.
Finkel was first arrested in October on the original indictment. He was released Jan. 17 after a judge cut his bond in half and he posted a $100,000 bail.
