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 Tuesday, December 20
Editor's Note: CNN News Update is a running log of the latest news from CNN World Headquarters, reported by CNN's correspondents, producers and Wires.CNN editors. Saddam Hussein trial resumes after two-week break BAGHDAD (CNN) -- After a two-week break, the trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his seven co-defendants -- proceedings that have been as boisterous as they have been unpredictable -- resumed Wednesday. The last time the court met, on Dec. 7, the session was delayed for hours after Saddam Hussein failed to appear in court, capping off what had been a grueling week of harrowing testimony from Dujail residents who were rounded up by government forces 23 years ago after a failed assassination attempt against Hussein. On Wednesday, Ali Haj Hussein al-Haydari -- 37, but 14 at the time of the attempt on Hussein's life -- described the day in emotional detail. He said gunfire erupted as Hussein's motorcade passed through the town, after which government agents raided his parents' home. Al-Haydari described more than four years of captivity and torture, including the execution of family members. His brother Hassan was one of six men who planned to kill Hussein that day and was later executed. "I was never told why I was arrested," he said. Al-Haydari also talked of "walking through dead bodies" at Baath Party headquarters, the ruling party during Hussein's regime. The previous two sessions featured a defiant, quarrelsome, rambling Hussein, who along with his seven co-defendants is charged with crimes against humanity, including the 1982 killings of more than 140 males in Dujail. Much of the early testimony in the trial has focused on the apparent retribution aimed at the citizens of Dujail following the assassination attempt. (Updated 5:04 a.m.) Military: Suspected insurgents killed, captured in separate incidents BAGHDAD (CNN) -- At least nine suspected insurgents were killed and 16 suspects captured in two separate incidents in southern Baghdad on Monday and Tuesday, the U.S. military said. In the first incident, two vehicles were seen fleeing the scene of a raid Monday, and one group pulled a bound hostage from a vehicle and killed him. A U.S. warplane engaged and killed the suspected insurgents, then engaged the other vehicle. In the second incident, 12 suspected insurgents were detained and weapons and medical supplies confiscated Tuesday in a raid in Northern Babil province. (Posted 5:03 a.m.) Iraqi officer killed, 6 wounded in roadside bomb BAGHDAD (CNN) -- An Iraqi police officer was killed and six others were wounded Wednesday when a roadside bomb struck their patrol near a bridge in the al-Dora area in the southern part of the city about 1:30 p.m., according to police. In other incidents, the director-general of the Iraqi Agriculture Ministry was wounded and one of his guards killed Wednesday when gunmen opened fire at his vehicle in Baghdad's al-Jamia neighborhood at about 8 a.m., according to a police official with Baghdad emergency police. Hamid Mahmoud Jawad was transferred to al-Yarmouk Hospital, police said. About 15 minutes later, a civilian was killed and two others wounded during a firefight between gunmen and police in southern Baghdad's al-Dora neighborhood, police said. And a civilian was wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a U.S. military convoy in the Baghdad city center, close to the Iraqi Interior Ministry, about 8:30 a.m., Baghdad emergency police said. -- From CNN Producer Mohammed Tawfeeq (Posted 4:59 a.m.) Rumsfeld makes unannounced visit to Afghanistan (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on Wednesday made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan, where he is set to meet with U.S. and Afghan military personnel as well as Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The visit came after Rumsfeld spent Tuesday touring different U.S. military outposts in Pakistan, including facilities set up to aid victims of the Oct. 2 earthquake that killed more than 70,000 people in Pakistan. Because Rumsfeld was running behind schedule, a planned meeting with Combined Forces Command - Afghanistan staff at Camp Eggers was canceled. He boarded a UH-60 helicopter and headed straight for the presidential palace to meet with Karzai. The two leaders were to hold a news conference after the meeting. The defense secretary will overnight at Bagram Air Base, officials said. On Tuesday, Rumsfeld told reporters en route to Pakistan via Shannon, Ireland, that capturing Osama bin Laden is still a priority of the U.S. government, but would not speculate on whether the al Qaeda leader is still alive. (Updated 4:29 a.m.) Teachers at American school kidnapped by gunmen JERUSALEM (CNN) -- The principal and assistant principal of an American school were kidnapped Wednesday by Palestinian gunmen in northern Gaza, according to Palestinian security sources. The incident occurred while the teachers, who are Australian and Dutch, were traveling in a car in Beit Lahiya, the security sources said. A few foreigners have recently been kidnapped by gunmen who have made demands of the Palestinian Authority. All the victims have been released unharmed. (Updated 4:30 a.m.) 1 killed, 6 wounded when gunmen fire on civilian vehicle BAGHDAD (CNN) -- One person was killed and six others wounded Wednesday when gunmen fired on a civilian vehicle outside of Khalis, just northwest of Baquba in Iraq's volatile Diyala province, according to a spokesman for Diyala's provincial Joint Coordination Center. The incident occurred about 8:20 a.m. The person who was killed worked at a U.S. military base, according to the U.S. military. Those who were injured were taken to a hospital. In addition, a body was found outside Baquba about 7:30 a.m., the provincial spokesman said. The body, which showed signs of torture, was found close to a burned civilian vehicle. It was identified as being that of a second worker at a U.S. military base, the U.S. military said. Teachers at American school kidnapped by gunmen JERUSALEM (CNN) -- The director of an American school and his deputy were kidnapped Wednesday by Palestinian gunmen in northern Gaza, according to Palestinian security sources. The incident occurred while the teachers were traveling in a car in Beit Lahiya, the security sources saiD. (posted 2:28 a.m.) Roadside bomb kills U.S. soldier south of Baghdad BAGHDAD (CNN) -- A U.S. soldier with Task Force Baghdad was killed by a roadside bomb south of the Iraqi capital Monday, a military statement said. The name of the soldier is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. Since the start of the war, 2,158 U.S. troops have died in Iraq. (Posted 2:22 a.m.) NHC: Katrina weaker at landfall than first thought MIAMI (CNN) -- When it slammed ashore on the Gulf Coast in August, Hurricane Katrina was a strong Category 3 storm, not a Category 4 as initially thought, the National Hurricane Center said. In addition, according to the final NHC report on Katrina, released Tuesday, downtown New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain likely escaped the storm's strongest winds. But even so, the hurricane center said, "Katrina was one of the most devastating natural disasters in United States history." Katrina was responsible for more than 1,300 deaths in five southeastern states, with the majority of those in Louisiana. The slow-moving, rain-filled storm overwhelmed the city's levee system -- thought to be able to withstand a Category 3 storm -- and caused massive flooding in and around New Orleans. Some estimates have put the total cost of reconstruction at more than $200 billion. State Supreme Court judge rules N.Y. transit strike illegal NEW YORK (CNN) -- With millions of New Yorkers affected by the transit strike that has crippled the city, a state Supreme Court judge ruled the strike illegal Tuesday, and ordered a fine of $1 million per day against the union. Mayor Michael Bloomberg vowed there would be no further negotiations until the strike ends. Arthur Schwartz, an attorney for the Transport Workers Union, said he plans to file an appeal. He added that the union, as of December 2004, had about $3 million in assets. Ainsley Stewart, vice president of Transit Workers Union Local 100, told CNN Tuesday night that TWU officials don't plan to meet among themselves any earlier than Wednesday at 12:01 a.m. And it could be Friday morning before they convene, he said. U.S. wants to extradite suspect in infamous 1985 TWA hijacking WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States will seek extradition of a Lebanese man accused of killing a U.S. Navy diver during an infamous 1985 hijacking, after he was paroled last week by a German court and allowed to return to Lebanon. Officials at the Justice and State departments said Tuesday they want Lebanese authorities to arrest Mohammed Ali Hamadi and turn him over to the United States, so he can be tried for his role in the hijacking of TWA Flight 847, even though the two countries do not have a formal extradition treaty. During that 17-day hijacking ordeal, Navy diver Robert Stethem, 23, was shot and killed and his body dumped on a tarmac in Beirut -- an image captured by television cameras and shown around the world. Hamadi was captured two years later in Frankfurt, Germany, and convicted for his role in the hijacking, serving a total of 19 years in German prisons before being paroled last week. FBI disputes ACLU claims records show probes of activist groups WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The FBI Tuesday rejected charges by the American Civil Liberties Union that newly released records show federal agents conduct surveillance against political activist organizations. The FBI also singled out accounts of the allegations published Tuesday in the New York Times and Washington Post, charging they were "misleading and imply that the FBI has engaged in unauthorized or otherwise inappropriate investigative activity." "The FBI does not investigate any public interest or advocacy group based on the group's lawful activities or political beliefs," said the statement issued by FBI headquarters. The denial was prompted by the ACLU release of FBI documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. Representatives of the ACLU and the advocacy groups allegedly targeted say the records show counterterrorism investigators engaged in systematic surveillance and used secret informants in the investigations. --From Justice Producer Terry Frieden (Posted 5:51 p.m.) Chertoff calls intercepts 'important weapon' against terror WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on Tuesday declined to answer questions about the domestic spying issue roiling Washington, but said communications intercepts are "probably the single most important weapon" in fighting terrorists. "Electronic surveillance in general... is the critical tool in fighting terrorism," Chertoff said in an interview with CNN. "In World War II, we had radar to warn us about bombers. We don't have radar for terrorists. The radar for terrorists is intelligence. And the best intelligence is often signals intelligence, meaning communication or intercept." The ability to get a wide range of communications intelligence "is probably the single most important weapon we have in fighting terrorism and leads directly to our ability to disrupt terrorist acts," he said. --From CNN Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve and Producer Mike M. Ahlers (Posted 5:06 p.m.) Officials prepare to raise plane wreckage from sea floor as investigation into crash gets under way MIAMI (CNN) -- A salvage team prepared Tuesday to lift from about 35 feet of water the wreckage of a seaplane that crashed Monday on takeoff, killing at least 19 of the 20 people aboard. "It could take as long as the rest of this afternoon and a significant piece of tomorrow," said Mark Rosenker, acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. The wreckage will be placed aboard a barge and taken to a secure location, where safety investigators will pore over it for clues to what caused the plane to break apart in the air and dive in flames into the sea. (Posted 3:13 p.m.) Bloomberg blasts union leaders for 'thuggish' tactics NEW YORK (CNN) -- With New York's transportation system crippled by a transit worker strike, Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday blasted the union's leadership for carrying out a "selfish and illegal" strike and for "thuggishly" turning their backs on millions of New Yorkers. "There's no excuse for breaking the law," Bloomberg said at an afternoon news conference. "This is unconscionable." He urged workers in the Transport Workers Union to return to work as soon as possible, and he drew a hard line, saying the city would not negotiate with the union until its employees have returned to their jobs. "You can't break the law and use that as a negotiating tactic," he said. "Since early this morning, this city's mass transit system has been shut down because of the selfish and illegal strike undertaken by the TWU. The morning rush hour was unlike anything this city has experienced in 25 years." (Posted 2:48 p.m.) Environmental groups question Alito nomination to Supreme Court WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Environmental groups Tuesday added themselves to the list of those concerned about U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, who already has faced questions about his record on abortion, privacy issues and judicial ethics. At a news conference on Capitol Hill, groups that included the Sierra Club, the National Environmental Trust, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth said Alito's record shows he favors corporations over the environment, and could scale back the power of Congress to make and maintain environmental law. Based on their review of Alito's career as a judge, Greenpeace executive director John Passacantando said, "with his narrow view of constitutional authority, he has decided in case after case on behalf of corporate power." He said at a Capitol Hill news conference that the nominee would be "very dangerous" if confirmed to the Supreme Court, where he would put at risk "the laws that protect our environment and public health." --From CNN's Paul Courson (Posted 1:32 p.m.) Senators ask for 'immediate inquiry' into secret wiretapping program WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Three Democratic and two Republican senators have sent a letter to the leaders of the Senate Judiciary and the Senate Intelligence committees, asking for an "immediate inquiry" into President Bush's authorization of a secret wiretapping program. "We write to express our profound concern about recent revelations that the United States government may have engaged in domestic electronic surveillance without appropriate legal authority," says the letter, which was sent Monday and signed by Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein, Carl Levin and Ron Wyden, as well as GOP Sens. Chuck Hagel and Olympia Snowe. "These allegations, which the president, at least in part, confirmed this weekend, require immediate inquiry and action by the Senate," the letter continued. President Bush confirmed Saturday that he had authorized the National Security Agency to intercept calls to or from people inside the country with known ties to al Qaeda or its affiliates, when the other party on the call is outside the United States. (Posted 1:26 p.m.) Rumsfeld: Bin Laden may not be in control of 'world wide al Qaeda' SHANNON, Ireland (CNN) -- Capturing Osama bin Laden is still a priority of the U.S. government, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Tuesday. Rumsfeld, speaking to reporters aboard his flight to Pakistan via Shannon, Ireland, would not speculate whether the al Qaeda leader is still alive. "I think it is interesting that we haven't heard from him in a year, close to a year," he said. "I don't know what it means. I suspect that in any event if he's alive and functioning that he's probably spending a major fraction of his time trying to avoid being caught. "I have trouble believing that he's able to operate sufficiently to be in a position of major command over a worldwide al Qaeda operation, but I could be wrong. We just don't know." (Posted 1:26 p.m.) Reward boosted to $50,000 for info on missing explosives (CNN) -- Federal authorities on Tuesday boosted to $50,000 the reward for information about the disappearance over the weekend of hundreds of pounds of explosives from a business outside Albuquerque. An official with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said about 400 pounds of high explosives and 150 pounds of commercial plastic explosives were taken from the facility, which is licensed to store them. The explosives were military-like, but not military-issue, ATF's Tom Mangan said from the agency's Phoenix bureau. The theft, discovered Sunday night, included detonators, commercial explosives, sheet explosives, prima cord and shock tubes, he said. (Posted 12:32 p.m.) Judge rules schools cannot require teaching of 'intelligent design' HARRISBURG, PA. (CNN) -- A federal judge in Pennsylvania has decided the proposed teaching of a concept critics liken to creationism cannot be mandated in public school science classes. In an opinion issued Tuesday, U.S. District Judge John Jones ruled that "intelligent design" is not science and it would violate the Constitutional separation of church and state if it were taught. Intelligent Design "cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents," Jones wrote in his 139-page opinion posted on the court's Web site. "To be sure, Darwin's theory of evolution is imperfect. However, the fact that a scientific theory cannot yet render an explanation on every point should not be used as a pretext to thrust an untestable alternative hypothesis grounded in religion into the science classroom or to misrepresent well-established scientific propositions," Jones wrote. (Posted 11:25 a.m.) Trains collide south of Rome ROME (CNN) -- Two commuter trains collided Tuesday about 80 miles south of Rome, injuring 30 people, four of them seriously, said a spokesman for Italian Railway, or Trenitalia. The incident occurred at 3:20 p.m. (9:20 a.m. ET) in Roccasecca Station, where a train bound for Cassino, which had departed Rome's Termini Station at 1:47 p.m., was rear-ended by a train to Campobasso, which had departed Rome at 2:15 p.m., Italian railway spokesman Luigi Irdi told CNN. (Posted 11:22 a.m.) Halloween assault suspect arraigned in New York NEW YORK (CNN) -- A man accused of posing as a firefighter to enter a woman's apartment and sexually assault her on Halloween has been arraigned and ordered held without bond, the Manhattan district attorney's office said Tuesday. The arraignment took place at 12:30 a.m. Tuesday after Peter Braunstein, a 41-year-old freelance writer, arrived from Tennessee after waiving extradition. The district attorney's office said a public defender made a request for a psychiatric evaluation of Braunstein. His next court appearance will be Friday, when charges against him will be formalized, the district attorney's office said. (Posted 11:03 a.m.) Transit system head to court, hoping to force transit works to end crippling strike NEW YORK (CNN) -- The Metropolitan Transit Authority headed to court Tuesday after New York transit workers walked off the job, paralyzing the nation's largest transit system. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined hundreds of other New Yorkers as he walked across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan amid the city's first transit strike in a quarter century. Despite the threat of legal action against them, more than 30,000 New York City transit workers went on strike early Tuesday, essentially shutting down the nation's largest public transportation system just days ahead of Christmas. Under New York's Taylor Law, transit workers are forbidden to strike. They can be fined two days pay for each day they are on strike, according to the law. --From CNN News Producer Tom DiDonato (Posted 9:51 a.m.) Cheney says Bush has the right to authorize secret surveillance ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- As he visited a U.S. military hospital set up in Pakistan to aid victims of the October earthquake, Vice President Dick Cheney said Tuesday that President Bush had every right to authorize secret wiretapping of those suspected of having links to terror groups. "If we had been able to do that before 9/11, we might have been able to pick up on two of the hijackers who were in San Diego in touch overseas with al Qaeda," Cheney told CNN's Dana Bash. Cheney said such measures were necessary because the United States needed to "aggressively go after terrorists." Critics say Bush had no legal standing to authorize such wiretaps without obtaining a warrant from a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court. (Posted 9:44 a.m.) Investigators to pull plane from water after accident that killed at least 19 MIAMI (CNN) -- Investigators Tuesday hoped to lift from the water a seaplane that crashed on takeoff Monday, carrying 20 people who had been on their way to the Bahamas, officials said. Nineteen bodies have been recovered, and the search continues for the 20th victim, authorities said in a news conference Tuesday. Mark Rosenker, acting NTSB chairman, told reporters that a salvage team would attach balloons to the pieces of the Grumman G73 airplane and try to lift it to the surface of the ocean and onto a barge later in the day. Teams would also continue their search for the aircraft's cockpit voice recorder, he said, in the hopes it will contain clues about what caused the fiery crash of the vintage seaplane, which was built in 1947. (Posted 9:04 a.m.) Iraqi election results won't come until January BAGHDAD (CNN) -- Final results of the Dec. 15 elections in Iraq will not be available until after the first of the year, Electoral Commission Farid Ayar said Tuesday. Ayar said the results would not be announced until all complaints -- now numbering more than 1,000 -- have been addressed. "Some of these complaints are very serious, and they are related to changing some of the figures," he said. "Many problems happened during the elections -- problems that complicated the election process," Ayar said. "There might be some fraud or intimidation. We are going to address these complaints very carefully because, as I told you, I wanted this process to be clean and fair, and we treat all the political entities in Iraq as equal." In partial results released Tuesday by the commission, the Shia-coalition United Iraqi Alliance was holding a commanding lead -- winning overwhelmingly in nine of Iraq's 18 provinces and holding a solid majority in a tenth. (posted 8:39 a.m.) 5 dead, 4 wounded in Baghdad incidents BAGHDAD (CNN) -- Masked gunmen opened fire Tuesday afternoon and killed three Iraqi police officers as they left a cement factory they were guarding in the Abu Ghraib neighborhood, Iraqi police said. At the time of the attack -- about 12:45 p.m. -- the police officers were wearing civilian clothing. No further information was available. Another Iraqi policeman was killed and four people were wounded -- two of them police officers -- during a clash with gunmen in the al-Amriya neighborhood of western Baghdad about 2 p.m., police said. Separately, gunmen killed a truck driver carrying stationery to Baghdad International Airport at about 11 a.m. That incident took place on the al-Ghazaliya highway in western Baghdad. (Posted 8:15 a.m.) Germany Frees Murderer of U.S. Navy Diver; Denies Link to Hostage Release BERLIN (CNN) -- The German government Tuesday confirmed the release of a Hezbollah militant sentenced to life in prison for murdering a U.S. Navy diver during the 1985 hijacking of a U.S. jetliner. It denied the release was related to the freeing of a German hostage in Iraq. Mohammed Ali Hammadi was freed by Hessen state authorities, said Justice Ministry spokeswoman Eva Schmierer, when asked during a regularly scheduled news conference. She noted it was a state, not a federal issue. Media reports in Germany said Hammadi had been flown back to his native Lebanon last week. "The federal government has nothing to do with it," she said, adding it was Hessen state had the authority over Hammadi. She denied reports the U.S. government had an extradition request for Hammadi. --By CNN Correspondent Chris Burns (Posted 7:51 a.m.) Cheney cutting trip short because of pending votes on the budget and defense appropriations bills ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Vice President Cheney is cutting his trip to the earthquake zone in Pakistan short to return to Washington in order to cast tie breaking votes on the budget reconciliation and the defense appropriation bills. He will not be going to Saudi Arabia or Egypt as planned, his aides told reporters. He will return to Washington early Wednesday morning. (Posted 7:41 a.m.) Jordanian ambassador's driver abducted BAGHDAD (CNN) -- A driver for Jordan's ambassador to Iraq was kidnapped by gunmen in southwestern Baghdad Tuesday, emergency police told CNN. The abduction took place in the al-Saydiya neighborhood around 9:45 a.m. (1:45 a.m.). Nasser Judeh, the official spokesman for the Jordanian government, said officials in Amman had contacted the Iraqi government to encourage them to tighten security and to do whatever possible to secure the driver's release. No other details were immediately available. (Posted 7:16 a.m.) Siege of Bethlehem city hall ends JERUSALEM (CNN) -- A siege at city hall in the West Bank city of Bethlehem has ended, according to Bethlehem governor Salah Taamri, who said officials had "reached an agreement" with some 40 armed Palestinian militants who had seized the building Tuesday. Further details were not immediately available. The gunmen -- members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a branch of the ruling Fatah group -- stormed the building and threw out employees earlier in the day. The militants, who are helping Palestinian security forces with their duties, are demanding better pay. Taamri said the militants want to sabotage Christmas in Bethlehem and have "no sense of loyalty and belonging to this nation," a reference to a possible future Palestinian state. (Posted 7:14 a.m.) U.S. to draw down 3,000 troops from Afghanistan WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said Tuesday that some 3,000 U.S. troops are to be withdrawn from Afghanistan, bringing the number from 19,000 down to about 16,000. Rumsfeld, on a plane bound for Pakistan where he is to visit the area struck by a devastating earthquake in October, told reporters that U.S. troops can come home because of an expansion of NATO forces in Afghanistan. The reduction will be complete by next spring, he said. (Posted 7:13 a.m.) British authorities announce arrest of terror suspect LONDON (CNN) -- British authorities said Tuesday they had arrested a Tottenham man, as he got off a plan from Ethopia, in connection with the July 21 bombing attacks in London. (Posted 7:12 a.m.) Iraqi election results won't come until January BAGHDAD (CNN) -- Final results of the Dec. 15 elections in Iraq will not be available until after the first of the year, the Electoral Commission said Tuesday. The commission said the results would not be announced until all complaints -- now numbering more than 1,000 -- have been addressed. (Posted 7:11 a.m.) Sharon walks out of hospital 2 days after suffering stroke JERUSALEM (CNN) -- A grinning Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon walked out of a Jerusalem hospital Tuesday, less than 48 hours after suffering a mild stroke caused by a blood clot in the brain. In a joking mood, Sharon told a throng of waiting reporters, "apparently, you've missed me." The prime minister thanked his doctors for taking care of him and said the outpouring of support by the people of Israel buoyed him. "I was very touched by the reactions of Israeli citizens -- touched by their concern. They worry about my health," Sharon said. Still grinning ear-to-ear, Sharon dismissed reporters, saying "I have to get a move on and get back to work and move forward." Sharon's doctors expect the prime minister to make a full recovery. Jordanian ambassador's driver abducted BAGHDAD (CNN) -- A driver for Jordan's ambassador to Iraq was kidnapped by gunmen in southwestern Baghdad Tuesday, emergency police told CNN. The abduction took place in the al-Saydiya neighborhood around 9:45 a.m. (1:45 a.m.). No other details were immediately available. Halloween sexual assault suspect to face charges in New York NEW YORK (CNN) -- A man suspected of posing as a firefighter in order to gain entrance to a woman's home where he sexually assaulted her arrived in New York Monday evening after waiving extradition from Tennessee earlier in the day. Peter Braunstein, a 41-year-old freelance writer, is expected to appear in a Manhattan court Tuesday. He is suspected in the Halloween assault, which lasted for 12 hours, police said. Braunstein will be charged with kidnapping, sexual abuse, robbery and burglary, said Barbara Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. 
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