Bush: Aid can remedy global poverty
MONTERREY, Mexico, March 22 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush spoke before about 60 world leaders and high-ranking officials attending the U.N. International Conference on Financing for Development Friday, portraying the fight against global poverty as the answer to terrorist activity in underdeveloped nations. Bush delivered his speech as he began his second day of a four-day, three-city journey through Latin America. He has been trying to convince the attendees of strategies to promote development of emerging nations. Bush has proposed a compact that would encourage more economic contributions from richer nations and a greater responsibility by developing nations.
U.S. Embassy closes in Sarajevo
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina, March 22 (UPI) -- The U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo on Friday closed all operations following a possible terrorist threat, an embassy official said. The embassy had reduced its public functions and stopped people from entering Wednesday. Karen Williams, an embassy official, refused to divulge details of the nature of the threat and from where it was received. Last week, the CIA issued warnings to several U.S. missions in Europe.
Suicide bomber attacks as officers meet
TEL AVIV, Israel, March 22 (UPI) -- A suicide bomber blew himself up Friday at a military roadblock between the West Bank and Israel as senior Israeli and Palestinian military and intelligence officers resumed meetings aimed at reaching a ceasefire. The suicide bombing occurred at the Salem roadblock between the northern West Bank town of Jenin and Israel, Israel Radio and spokesmen for the settlers in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip said. An Israeli officer was slightly injured and a helicopter evacuated him, the report added. Earlier, the Israeli government agreed to resume meetings of the U.S.-Israeli-Palestinian Trilateral Security Committee with senior U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni.
Parliament approves immigration reforms
BERLIN, March 22 (UPI) -- The upper house of the German Parliament Friday passed on a split vote a controversial bill allowing limited immigration. The session had to be briefly adjourned as opposition conservative members heckled Bundesrat President Klaus Wowereit, questioning the constitutionality of his ruling to recognize the vote. The legislation would allow immigration of skilled workers to help the development of Germany's information technology and industry sectors. It also sets a benchmark for selecting skilled foreign workers and a plan to integrate foreign workers already employed in the country. The lower house of the German Parliament approved the bill last year.
RICO suit filed in bishop's sex abuse case
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., March 22 (UPI) -- A team of Minnesota lawyers filed a federal anti-racketeering suit against former Roman Catholic Bishop Anthony J. O'Connell of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and three dioceses Friday, charging sex abuse and coverups. The Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as the RICO statute, is usually used in prosecutions of organized-crime cases. By filing that kind of suit, the lawyers are calling the Catholic Church a criminal enterprise. It is the third allegation against O'Connell by seminarians at St. Thomas Aquinas Preparatory Seminary in Hannibal, Mo., made as a result of his 25 years as an instructor and teacher there.
Baseball star claims abuse by priest
DETROIT, March 22 (UPI) -- Former baseball all-star outfielder Tom Paciorek says in a published report he was molested by a Catholic priest. Paciorek, 55, who is covering the Atlanta Braves training camp for Fox SportsNet, told Friday's Detroit Free Press the worst of the abuse came when he was 16 and spent a weekend with the Rev. Gerald Shirilla. Most of Paciorek's brothers also say they were abused by Sharilla, 63, who had been a friend of the family, when they were students at St. Ladislaus. The brothers did not discuss the abuse among themselves or with their parents until the 1980s.
Gunman shoots co-workers, kills self
SOUTH BEND, Ind., March 22 (UPI) -- An employee of an aircraft parts plant opened fire on fellow workers early Friday, reportedly killing at least two people, before leading police on a high-speed chase into Michigan and killing himself, police said. The incident occurred at Bertrand Products near the South Bend airport about 8:15 a.m. Police had no immediate motive in the shooting, which left a number of other people injured.
Stocks drift lower
NEW YORK, March 22 (UPI) -- Stock prices on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market were virtually flat in early afternoon trading Friday, coming under pressure after McDonald's Corp. lowered its earnings outlook. Analysts said stocks fell as investors shifted their attention to corporate news in the absence of economic reports. The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average, which lost 21.73 points Thursday, was down 0.,55 at 10,479.29. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index, which rose 35.96 points in the previous session, was up 2.99 at 1,871.82.
Sakhee favored in Dubai World Cup
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, March 22 (UPI) -- Sakhee, one of four horses from Godolphin Racing, leads a field of 11 entered for Saturday's $6 million Dubai World Cup, the world's richest horse race, at the Nad Al Sheba track. It will be a return to the international stage for Sakhee, though he will barely leave home. Godolphin racing is owned by the Maktoum family of Dubai and the winter stable is just two miles from Nad Al Sheba. The last time Sakhee competed in a race of international magnitude, he was defeated by Tiznow in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Belmont Park in New York last October. Sakhee surged to the lead at the furlong pole but faded and lost by a nose.
