Sinn Fein Says Member Present During Murder
BELFAST -- Sinn Fein party leader Gerry Adams went to the United States on Saturday in search of foreign support, but back home in Northern Ireland, a controversy over the IRA's killing of a Catholic man refused to go away.
Sinn Fein, reeling from accusations its members helped destroy evidence and intimidate witnesses, admitted a former party election candidate was present in the bar where Irish Republican Army members attacked Robert McCartney.
U.S. veterans of the battle of Iwo Jima stand at attention during commemorative ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the World War II battle. About 50 U.S. vets and a handful of former Japanese soldiers gathered with hundreds of family members at a Japanese military base.
(Eriko Sugita -- Reuters)
|
|
EUROPE
• LONDON -- Protesters scaled pillars alongside gates at Buckingham Palace, unfurling a banner over the palace railings, police said.
They hung a banner saying, "Basque youth defending civil and political rights." The two men came down of their own accord and were taken to a police station, police said.
• MOSCOW -- Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said Russia's government should be sacked because of bungled social reforms and because ministers had strayed from the manifesto set out by President Vladimir Putin.
Gorbachev, who came to power 20 years ago and presided over the break-up of the Soviet Union, told Ekho Moskvy radio that the government had been "burned" over an attempt to scrap Soviet-era social benefits and replace them with cash payments.
When it came into effect at the start of the year, the reform sparked protests across Russia, mainly by pensioners disgusted at the small sums they were to receive in lieu of perks such as free transport.
• CHISINAU, Moldova -- A former defense minister has been arrested on suspicion of defrauding the government of $10 million in the sale of military aircraft to the United States, prosecutors said.
Valeriu Pasat, who also served as Moldova's spy chief until 2002, was detained Friday after he arrived in the capital from Moscow, where he is an adviser to the Russian company Unified Energy Systems.
• VATICAN CITY -- Pope John Paul II is preparing to leave the hospital, possibly as soon as Monday or Tuesday, for his return to the Vatican in time for Holy Week, according to a priest from the pontiff's hometown.
The Rev. Richard Nitschke, who spoke to the pope's personal secretary during a visit Saturday, was the first person to publicly offer details on a possible discharge since the frail 84-year-old pope was rushed to Gemelli Polyclinic hospital and underwent throat surgery on Feb. 24.
• LISBON -- Jose Socrates was sworn in as Portugal's prime minister, vowing to maintain good relations with the United States despite naming a foreign minister who has compared President Bush to Adolf Hitler.
Underscoring his commitment to a stronger European Union, the Socialist leader also said he would seek to hold a referendum on the E.U. constitution in December this year.
