Nation briefs 4/6/03

American peace activist shot in West Bank

JERUSALEM-- An American peace activist volunteering as a human shield in the West Bank was seriously wounded on Saturday when Israeli troops allegedly opened fire on him.

Brian Avery, 24, from Albuquerque, N.M., heard shots fired and came out of his apartment building in Jenin to investigate just as an armored personnel carrier rounded a corner, said Tobias Karlsson, a fellow activist from Sweden.

Avery and Karlsson are members of the Palestinian-backed group International Solidarity Movement. Members of the group often insert themselves between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers to try to stop Israeli military operations.

"We had our hands up and we were wearing vests that clearly identified us as international workers when they began firing," Karlsson said. "Brian was shot in the face, and it looks like he was hit by a heavy caliber bullet because of the extent of the wound."

Avery was taken to a Jenin hospital but will be transferred to an Israeli hospital. Karlsson said he was semiconscious when taken in the ambulance.

Hurricane season may be twice as bad as 2002

FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- The 2003 Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be twice as severe as last year, forecasters said.

"A wide variety of global indicators obtained and analyzed through March continue to point to 2003 being an active Atlantic hurricane season," Colorado State University professor William Gray said Friday. "We expect Atlantic basin tropical cyclone activity to be about 140 percent of average this year."

There were four hurricanes during the June-November 2002 hurricane season. Gray and his associates predict eight for 2003.

Gray and his associates attribute the increase to the decline of El Nino, which had suppressed hurricane activity last season.

Lawsuit dismissed against JonBenet's parents

DENVER -- A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against the parents of JonBenet Ramsey and criticized police and the FBI for what she said was a media campaign aimed at making the family look guilty.

Authorities never charged the parents in the death of the 6-year-old, whose body was found in the family's Boulder home Dec. 26, 1996. However, police refused to clear the couple of suspicion and ruled out the possibility that an intruder was responsible.

U.S. District Court Judge Julie Carnes of Atlanta said in the ruling this week there was no evidence showing the parents killed JonBenet and considerable evidence showing that an intruder killed the child.

-- From wire reports