Anti-Tadic protesters rally
BELGRADE, Serbia, July 29 (UPI) -- A Belgrade rally by about 15,000 protesters opposed to the pro-Western government of Serbian President Boris Tadic turned violent Tuesday night, officials said.
Police efforts to disperse the crowd brought accusations of brutality by Alexander Vucic, secretary general of Serbia's Radical Party, ITAR-TASS reported. Vucic said he was struck four times by police wielding rubber batons, the Russian news agency said.
Thirteen policemen and 15 protesters were treated for injuries, ITAR-TASS said.
The demonstrators were voicing their support for Radovan Karadzic, the former political leader of Bosnian Serbs who has been arrested on war crime charges.
A few hundred protesters threw rocks at police, who responded with tear gas and baton rounds, The Guardian reported.
Vucic had instigated the demonstrations, accusing Tadic of "treason and dictatorship," the British newspaper said.
Tadic responded that the protesters had a right to demonstrate peacefully but that "There's no patriotism in hooliganism."
Belgrade media has been reporting that Tadic has been receiving death threats, The Guardian said.
German terrorist denied parole
FRANKFURT, Germany, July 29 (UPI) -- A German court has rejected a request for early prison release from a woman serving life for killing a U.S. soldier and bombing an American base in Frankfurt.
Former Red Army Faction member Birgit Hogefeld, 52, has been behind bars for 15 years for the incident that left a total of three dead, Deutsche Welle reported.
A court in Frankfurt ruled Tuesday she must serve at least another three years before she might be considered eligible for parole given the "severity of the crimes."
Hogefeld was convicted in 1996 for the murder of the U.S. soldier Edward Pimental.
The soldier's military identification was later used to gain access to the Rhine-Main air base in Frankfurt.
Soldiers Frank Scarton and Becky Jo Bristol, were killed and 23 injured in a car bombing in which Hogefeld and other Red Army Faction members were involved.
Hogefeld was also found guilty of the attempted murder of the then German Deputy Finance Minister Hanns Tietmeyer, the newspaper said.
House resolution apologizes for slavery
WASHINGTON, July 29 (UPI) -- The U.S. House of Representatives, on a voice vote Tuesday, approved a resolution apologizing for slavery and racial segregation of African-Americans.
A "genuine apology is an important and necessary first step in the process of racial reconciliation," the non-binding resolution read.
The resolution, sponsored by Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., the only white representative of an African-American-majority district, "apologizes to African-Americans on behalf of the people of the United States, for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow."
The resolution also said the House would commit to "stop the occurrence of human rights violations in the future."
The resolution does not address reparations.
Lawmakers have apologized to ethnic groups before.
In April, the Senate passed a resolution apologizing to Native Americans for "the many instances of violence, maltreatment and neglect," CNN reported. In 1993, the Senate passed a resolution apologizing for the "illegal overthrow" of the kingdom of Hawaii in 1893.
In 1988, Congress passed and President Ronald Reagan signed an act apologizing to Japanese-Americans detained in detention camps during World War II, CNN said. The detainees alive at the time each received $20,000 from the government.
Deaths reported in Wis. plant blast
TOMAHAWK, Wis., July 29 (UPI) -- An explosion at a Wisconsin corrugated paper mill Tuesday resulted in the deaths of three workers, the company said.
A fourth employee was injured in the 1:30 p.m. blast at the Packaging Corp. of America plant in Tomahawk.
The company said the explosion involved a recycled fiber storage tank, The Business Journal of Milwaukee reported. The employees, whose names had not been released, were doing maintenance tasks on top of the container when it blew up, the company said in a statement.
The cause of the accident was not known, said the company, which is based in Lake Forest, Ill.
Company spokesman Ron Zimmerman told the newspaper up to 10 people were working in the area, the Fort Mill (Wis.) Times reported. He said there was no fire.
The mill makes container board and corrugated packaging.
