Felony charges filed against abductors
SALT LAKE CITY — The alleged abductors of Elizabeth Smart face multiple felony charges filed by prosecutors Tuesday.
Brian David Mitchell, 49, and his wife, Wanda Barzee, 57, are each being held on $10 million bail. Police accused the couple of aggravated kidnapping, sexual assault and burglary.
Smart was kidnapped from her family home last summer and found March 12 in Sandy, Utah. There had been multiple sightings of Mitchell, Barzee and Smart in Nevada and California.
Police said they had evidence that Smart had been sexually attacked by her abductors.
Salt Lake County District Attorney David Yocom said he met with Smart’s parents, Ed and Lois. They told him they will cooperate in the case and will allow Elizabeth to testify on the assault charges.
Since her return home, the Smarts have not allowed Elizabeth to speak publicly.
World pays respect to Serbian leader
BELGRADE, Serbia — Dignitaries from around the world paid tribute Saturday to former Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindic, known as a reformer and a democrat.
According to authorities, an organized gang gunned down Djindic outside government headquarters in downtown Belgrade last Wednesday.
His death leaves Serbia without a prime minister and struggling for enough votes to elect a president.
In his career, Djindic helped engineer the downfall of former president Slobodan Milosevic and handed him over to the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal. He also helped found the nation’s Democratic party and became the first non-Communist mayor of Belgrade.
Foreign dignitaries including Robin Cook, the former leader of Britain’s House of Commons, and Lawrence Eagleburger, a former U.S. Secretary of State, were in attendance at Djindic’s funeral.
Angolan rebel forces threaten oil supply
CABINDA, Angola — Angolan armed forces are taking over the remote province of Cabinda to end a rebellion that has threatened a U.S. petroleum supplier and President George W. Bush’s plans to decrease America’s need for Middle East oil.
More than 10,000 soldiers have been sent to destroy a guerilla movement called the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda.
Civilians have also been sent away from their homes. A U.N. official estimated that 45,000 Cabindans have fled into the jungle or into neighboring countries.
Cabinda’s petroleum reserves account for 90 percent of the nation’s export revenue and 4 percent of the U.S. oil supply.
ChevronTexaco Corp. of San Ramon, Calif., partners with Sonangol, a state-owned petroleum company, in Angola. The 900,000 barrels per day produced in Angola and about $4 billion in annual exports bind it to America’s national interests.
Caution to travelers: Pneumonia outbreak
UNITED NATIONS — The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a rare emergency advisory Saturday to caution travelers about a severe form of pneumonia that has killed at least nine people and hospitalized hundreds of others, primarily in the Far East.
The WHO said it has detected 150 new cases of the disease, labeled severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.
The disease is an atypical form of pneumonia that begins with fever, fatigue, shortness of breath and cough. There are not any antibiotics or antiviral agents that appear effective in treating SARS.
More than half the reported cases have involved hospital workers treating infected patients.
Officials said there is no evidence to link the outbreak with terrorism.
Although the number of deaths is relatively low, officials are moving quickly to contain the outbreak because they fear a larger epidemic.
Fearful strike leader granted asylum
CARACAS, Venezuela — Costa Rica granted asylum Friday to the leader of a failed strike to oust President Hugo Chavez, the Costa Rican foreign ministry said.
Labor union leader Carlos Ortega, who faces treason charges, was granted diplomatic asylum after he cited fear for his personal security.
Costa Rica is deciding whether to grant Ortega territorial asylum, allowing him to live in the country, Costa Rican Ambassador Ricardo Lizano said.
Ortega helped organize a general strike to demand early elections or Chavez’s resignation. The strike paralyzed Venezuela’s oil industry and cost the country nearly $6 billion.
Ortega is the third Chavez opponent to seek asylum abroad.
Chavez said strike leaders must be imprisoned for at least 20 years for inflicting suffering on the people.
American protester bulldozed in Gaza
RAFAH, Gaza — An Israeli bulldozer killed an American woman protesting the destruction of Palestinian houses Sunday, Palestinian security sources said.
Rachel Corrie, 23, from Olympia, Wash., was taken to a hospital, where she died from her injuries.
Corrie was a part of the International Solidarity Movement, a group protesting Israeli actions in the occupied territories.
“This a group of protesters who are acting very irresponsibly,” an Israeli military source said.
“They are putting everyone in danger, the Palestinians, themselves, our forces, by intentionally placing themselves in a combat zone. We are checking the details of the incident and believe it to be a very regrettable incident.”
One witness said the arrival of ambulances was delayed because drivers were afraid to approach Israeli forces.
China appoints new generation of leaders
BEIJING — The Chinese Communist Party appointed its next premier to control the rapidly changing economy Sunday.
Wen Jiabao, 60, will replace the retiring Zhu Rongji.
Wen, a former geologist, is the third-ranking member of the party.
The economy of China has recorded staggering growth, but faces problems of massive bad loans and high rates of unemployment.
Mass protests have been sparked in the “rust belt” of Northeast China, home of state factories shedding millions of workers.
The National People’s Congress, China’s ceremonial legislature, elected Hu Jintao as president of China Saturday in the country’s transition to a younger generation of leadership.
New living-wage law stirs class conflict
SANTA FE, New Mexico — The United States’ sweeping “living wage” law has led to a fight between Santa Fe’s biggest employers against its poorest residents.
Last month, the Santa Fe City Council approved the law to raise the minimum wage of hourly pay to at least $8.50, more than $3 above the federal minimum of $5.15.
By 2008, the minimum is expected to rise as high as $10.50.
The council’s action makes Santa Fe the only municipality in the country extending a mandatory minimum wage to all businesses with at least 25 workers.
Last year, New Orleans and Santa Monica, Calif., enacted similar living-wage laws, but they were overturned by the state Supreme Court in Louisiana, and by voters in Santa Monica.
— Compiled from news sources
March 20, 2003