NEW YORK
Marchers demand U.S. troops leave Iraq
Tens of thousands of protesters marched Saturday through lower Manhattan to demand an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
Cindy Sheehan, a vociferous critic of the war whose soldier son died in Iraq, joined in the march, as did actress Susan Sarandon and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
One group marched under the banner “Veterans for Peace.”
The demonstrators stretched for about 10 blocks as they headed down Broadway. Organizers said 300,000 people marched, though a police spokesman declined to give an estimate. There were no reports of arrests.
WASHINGTON
Egyptian admits he smuggled in 100 men
An Egyptian man has pleaded guilty to smuggling at least 100 men from the Middle East into the United States, the government said.
Ashraf Ahmed Abdallah Bashar, 37, admitted to leading a smuggling ring that brought 100 or more men from Middle Eastern countries into the U.S. from April 2001 through January 2002, officials from the Justice Department and the Homeland Security Department said.
He pleaded guilty Friday in federal court before Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson.
Abdallah admitted to arranging land transportation and guides into the U.S., as well as layovers at safe houses in Guatemala and Mexico, for up to $8,000.
WASHINGTON
Probe looks at limos, contractor, lawmaker
Federal authorities are investigating allegations that a California defense contractor arranged for a Washington-area limousine company to provide prostitutes to convicted former Rep.Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif., and possibly other lawmakers, sources familiar with the probe said Friday.
In recent weeks, investigators have focused on possible dealings between Christopher D. Baker, president of Shirlington Limousine and Transportation Inc., and Brent Wilkes, a San Diego businessman who is under investigation for bribing Cunningham in return for millions of dollars in federal contracts, said one source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Baker has a criminal record and past financial difficulties, public records show. Last fall, his company was awarded a $21 million contract with the Department of Homeland Security to provide transportation, including limo service for senior officials. Baker and his attorney declined to comment Friday.
NEW YORK
Former FDA chief under investigation
The former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration is under federal investigation amid accusations of financial improprieties and making false statements to Congress, a newspaper reported Saturday.
The New York Times, citing attorney Barbara Van Gelder, said a grand jury has begun a criminal investigation of Lester Crawford.
Van Gelder told a federal magistrate in a telephone hearing Thursday that she would instruct Crawford to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination if ordered to answer questions about his actions as head of the FDA, a transcript of the hearing shows.
Crawford did not reply to messages left by The Times seeking comment.
SANTA CLARITA, Calif.
Arson squad blows up theme-song news rack
A newspaper promotion for Tom Cruise’s upcoming “Mission: Impossible III” got off to an explosive start when a county arson squad blew up a news rack, thinking it contained a bomb.
The confusion: The Los Angeles Times rack was fitted with a digital musical device designed to play the “Mission: Impossible” theme song when the door was opened.
But in some cases, the red plastic boxes with protruding wires were jarred loose and dropped onto the stack of newspapers inside, alarming customers.
Times officials said the devices were placed in 4,500 randomly selected news boxes in Los Angeles and Ventura counties in a venture with Paramount Pictures designed to turn the “everyday news rack experience” into an “extraordinary mission.”
WASHINGTON
YWCA will let men serve as local leaders
The YWCA voted overwhelmingly Saturday to eliminate a policy that allowed only women to serve as leaders of its nearly 300 local affiliates.
Passed with the blessing of 70 percent of its voting members, the decision marks a big change for the 148-year-old organization but comes as a compromise just five years after an unofficial vote against allowing men to serve as leaders.
The new measure, passed at the organization’s annual meeting, allows each chapter to decide whether to accept men through a proposal to the national board.
ROME
Berlusconi hints he will resign as premier
Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi indicated Saturday that he was ready to resign after long denying electoral defeat, saying a meeting expected to formalize his departure was scheduled for Tuesday.
Italian news agencies ANSA and Apcom reported that Berlusconi said he would resign then, clearing the way for the incoming government of center-left former Premier Romano Prodi.
The reports did not directly quote Berlusconi saying he would resign.
Even after Italy’s top court certified Prodi’s razor-thin victory in the lower house of parliament after April 9-10 elections, Berlusconi, a billionaire media mogul, denied his loss and vowed to keep up legal challenges.
KATMANDU, Nepal
Legislators want king to lose army control
Newly returned Nepalese legislators demanded Saturday that King Gyanendra be stripped of control over the 90,000-strong army, fearing he could use it to regain power after his recent concession to weeks of pro- democracy protests.
Nepal’s constitution gives the monarch supreme command of the army, and Gyanendra’s seizure of power in February 2005 included sending soldiers to arrest opposition politicians, censor the media and guard his palace.
Legislators said Saturday that the king must lose control over the army when the constitution is rewritten by a special assembly.
Elections for the assembly were proposed Friday by lawmakers meeting for the first time in four years.
WONOSOBO, Indonesia
Militant escapes raid; 2 accomplices killed
One of Southeast Asia’s most- wanted militants escaped a raid on his suspected hideout Saturday, but two of his accomplices were killed during an hour-long shootout, police said.
Noordin Top, regarded as a key leader of the al-Qaeda- linked group Jemaah Islamiyah, was not in the safe house in Central Java province when an anti- terror unit arrived before dawn, said Brig. Anton Bachrul Alam, a deputy police spokesman.
“We are still chasing Noordin,” he said, declining to give details about the search.
Noordin, seen as his group’s key strategist and one of its main recruiters, has eluded capture for years, several times escaping hours before police arrived at his hideout.
SYDNEY, Australia
Stones’ Richards treated for concussion
Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards was hospitalized for a mild concussion he suffered while vacationing in Fiji, reportedly after falling out of a palm tree.
Richards, 62, was injured last week and flown to a New Zealand hospital for treatment, band spokeswoman Fran Curtis said in a statement Saturday.
“Following treatment locally and as a precautionary measure, he flew to a hospital accompanied by his wife, Patti, for observation,” Curtis said.
The statement did not elaborate on Richards’ condition or explain how he was injured.
Media reports in Australia said Richards fell out of a palm tree at a Fiji resort and remained hospitalized in Auckland.
BEIJING
Catholics plan bishop opposed by Vatican
China’s state-sanctioned Roman Catholic Church will install a bishop opposed by the Vatican today, potentially damaging efforts to restore official ties between the sides, a Vatican- linked news agency reported.
Hong Kong’s Catholic diocese, which is under Vatican jurisdiction, protested the planned ordainment Saturday.
The Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association will ordain Ma Yinglin as bishop of the city of Kunming in southwestern Yunnan province, Rome-based AsiaNews said Friday.
AsiaNews said the Vatican opposes Ma because he is too close to the official Chinese church’s leaders and has little pastoral experience.
