BEIRUT

Syrian attacks on Turkey may ward off intervention

Syria’s cross-border attacks on Turkey in the past week look increasingly like they could be an intentional escalation meant to send a clear message to Ankara and beyond, that the crisis is simply too explosive to risk foreign military intervention.

With Turkey eager to defuse the crisis, the spillover of fighting is giving new life to a longshot political solution, with the Turks floating the idea of making President Bashar Assad’s longtime vice president, Farouk al-Sharaa, interim leader if the president steps aside.

A military option – which would involve foreign powers that already have expressed a deep reluctance to getting involved in the crisis – is still not on the table, analysts say, despite six consecutive days of Turkish retaliation against bombardment from inside Syria.

The Syrian conflict has taken a prominent role in the U.S. presidential election at a time when the United States and its allies have shown little appetite for getting involved.

On Monday, Republican candidate Mitt Romney said the United States should work with other countries to arm the Syrian rebels, allowing the rebels to drive Assad from power themselves. Romney did not call for the United States to directly arm the Syrian rebels.

LIMA, Peru

Convicted Dutch murderer claims he will be a father

A newspaper reported Monday that Joran van der Sloot, a Dutch man who is serving a 28-year sentence for murdering a young Peruvian woman, says he is going to be a father. His attorney said the inmate does have a conjugal visitor, but he could not confirm she was pregnant.

The Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf said Van der Sloot, a suspect in the 2005 disappearance of U.S. teenager Natalee Holloway, said in a telephone call Saturday that “a test has proved” the pregnancy.
Van der Sloot is a self-described liar, having confessed to killing Holloway and later retracting the confessions. He is the last person known to have seen her alive.

He was convicted of the 2010 robbing and killing of Stephany Flores in a Lima hotel room after meeting her in a nearby casino. He is wanted by authorities in the United States for allegedly extorting money from the Holloway family on the promise of revealing the location of her body.

He could resist extradition to the United States, where he is wanted in the Holloway case, if he obtains Peruvian nationality. That would be a possibility if he becomes the father of a Peruvian child or if he marries a Peruvian citizen.

BOSTON

Experimental drug appears to slow Alzheimer’s disease

Combined results from two studies of an experimental Alzheimer’s drug suggest it might modestly slow mental decline, especially in patients with mild versions of the disease.

Taken separately, the studies missed their main goals to significantly slow the mind-robbing disease. But pooled results found 34 percent less decline in patients with moderate Alzheimer’s compared to those on a dummy treatment for 18 months.

Doctors say the results do not seem strong enough to win approval of the drug now. But they show researchers are on the right track by trying to clear the sticky deposits that clog patients’ brains.

DALLAS

Toddler’s injuries described as mom awaits sentencing

A Dallas woman who super-glued her 2-year-old daughter’s hands to a wall also beat the girl so badly that she suffered bleeding on her brain, a doctor testified Monday during the mother’s sentencing hearing.

Elizabeth Escalona faces up to life in prison after pleading guilty in July to attacking her daughter, Jocelyn Cedillo, last September. Police say the 23-year-old mother attacked the toddler due to potty training problems.

Jocelyn was hospitalized for about one week with injuries that included bleeding on her brain, a fractured rib, severe bruises and others likely caused by direct blows, according to Dr. Amy Barton, a former child abuse specialist at Children’s Medical Center of Dallas.

The sentencing hearing is scheduled to continue Tuesday. Escalona’s attorney, Angie N’Duka, said she hadn’t decided if her client would take the stand. A state district judge will decide her punishment.

MIAMI

Roach-eating contest champ collapses, dies at hospital

The winner of a roach-eating contest in South Florida died shortly after downing dozens of the live bugs as well as worms, authorities said Monday.

About 30 contestants ate the insects during Friday night’s contest at Ben Siegel Reptile Store in Deerfield Beach about 40 miles north of Miami. The grand prize was a python.

Edward Archbold, 32, of West Palm Beach became ill shortly after the contest ended and collapsed in front of the store, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Authorities were waiting for results of an autopsy to determine a cause of death.

“Unless the roaches were contaminated with some bacteria or other pathogens, I don’t think that cockroaches would be unsafe to eat,” said Michael Adams, professor of entomology at the University of California at Riverside, who added that he has never heard of someone dying after consuming roaches.

“Some people do have allergies to roaches,” he said, “but there are no toxins in roaches or related insects.”

None of the other contestants became ill, the sheriff’s office said.

– From news service reports

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