House OKs funds to combat AIDS devastation in Africa
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House has approved funds to combat the devastation of AIDS in Africa, the center of what the surgeon general says will soon become the worst infectious disease epidemic ever.The voice vote Monday to create a World Bank-run trust fund to address the scourge of HIV and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa comes amid increased awareness of the threat AIDS poses to the world's political and economic well-being.
The administration recently said it now regards the world AIDS epidemic to be of a proportion sufficient to threaten national security. With fragile democracies and struggling economies in developing nations at risk, "AIDS is a national security issue," Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said.
Parents, 11-year-old slain; suspect is 22-year-old son
NEWBERG TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) -- A man, woman and their 11-year-old son were found slain in their home, and authorities were seeking the couple's 22-year-old son as a suspect in the killings.
The bodies of Keith Driskel Sr., 41; wife Kim Driskel, 39; and son Corey Driskel, 11, were found Monday after Cass County sheriff's deputies responded to a disturbance at their house, authorities said.
The sheriff's department would not release the cause of the deaths or elaborate on the nature of the disturbance.
An arrest warrant was issued for Keith Driskel Jr., who also lived at the home here, about 35 miles southwest of Kalamazoo.
Cop-informant being treated like Elvis, lawyers complain
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Defense attorneys for the first three officers charged in the city's police corruption scandal say authorities are giving a disgraced ex-cop-turned-informant too much credence and are treating him like a celebrity -- specifically, like Elvis Presley.
The comments came Monday as the officers pleaded not guilty to perjury and falsifying a police report. Sgt. Edward Ortiz, Sgt. Brian Liddy and Officer Paul Harper are accused of planting a gun on a gang member in 1996.
Allegations of police misconduct from ex-officer Rafael Perez have led to the dismissal of cases against some 80 defendants, many of whom had pleaded guilty.
Perez, convicted of stealing police evidence cocaine, has alleged beatings, shootings and frame-ups by the Los Angeles Police Department's Rampart station anti-gang unit.
"Perez got the deal of a lifetime," said attorney Barry Levin, who represents Ortiz. "They treat him like he was a rock star. It's really disgusting."
State may reinstate car fees to cover road-cost overruns
BOSTON (AP) -- State lawmakers have proposed a $1.88 billion plan to reinstate car registration fees and use money from driver's license fees to cover cost overruns on the Big Dig, a massive underground highway project under the city.
The Federal Highway Commission has set a Friday deadline for the state to come up with payment plan. A federal audit last month said as much as $1.9 billion would be needed.
Under the plan released Monday, about $1.35 billion will come from $30 car registration fees to be paid every two years, and $33.75 driver's license fees, paid every five years. The registration fees were abolished in 1996 and the license fees were set to be phased out this year.
The plan also uses capital funds and a $650 million budget surplus to pay down high-interest debt.
Killer has some disorders but isn't insane, doctor testifies
HOUSTON (AP) -- Accused serial killer Angel Maturino Resendiz suffers from several personality disorders and harbors "strange" beliefs, but was not insane when he killed a Houston-area physician, a court-appointed psychiatrist said.
In testimony Monday, Dr. Ramon Laval refuted a defense expert's claim that the 40-year-old Mexican drifter was insane when he killed Dr. Claudia Benton in December 1998.
"People who think of themselves as magical or having the power of seeing into the future, they're not psychotic or schizophrenic. They simply have peculiar, strange, or what some may call superstitious . . . thoughts," said Laval, who was to be questioned by the defense Tuesday.
Maturino Resendiz has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the slaying of Benton, one of nine killings his defense team has acknowledged he is responsible for.
Wind is problem for crews fighting Grand Canyon blaze
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. (AP) -- Wind that already pushed a prescribed burn on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon out of bounds was still a problem as firefighters struggled to contain the blaze.
Monday's wind expanded the Outlet fire to about 8,400 acres, and new winds were expected to accompany a cold front Tuesday. Authorities hoped it also would bring rain.
Park spokesman Robert Spoelhof said the fire, which had been half within the park and half on Forest Service lands, was 20 percent contained within the park Monday but remained out of control as it headed northeastward.
He said officials were hoping the cold front might bring rain "big time. That is our best bet in fighting this fire."
The fire began April 25 as a prescribed burn designed to help remove some brush and grasses on about 1,500 acres.
NAACP official suspended for urging candidate support
SUFFOLK, Va. (AP) -- A local NAACP official has been suspended after urging members to support Republican George Allen in Virginia's U.S. Senate race.
Paul C. Gillis was stripped of his post as Suffolk branch president last month by Kweisi Mfume, national president and chief executive officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
In a letter, Mfume accused Gillis of violating NAACP policies against partisan political activity. Mfume said Gillis' action put the NAACP in danger of "irreparable harm."
Gillis, 54, a former state NAACP president, said he was singled out for supporting a Republican.
5 rescued from North Pole after plane lands, then sinks
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- Five stranded travelers were rescued from the North Pole about 12 hours after their Russian-designed biplane landed and then sank through the ice, the Coast Guard said Tuesday.
The group boarded a commercial plane at about 11:15 p.m. Monday and was being flown to Eureka, Canada. Another plane hired by their families was going to transport them back to Alaska.
"Everybody's safe and sound, no injuries," said Lt. Kevin Dunn, who helped arrange the rescue with Canadian officials.
The travelers had been stranded about a mile from the North Pole on the North American side. Among the group was Dick Rutan of Mojave, Calif., part of the two-person crew who in 1986 made the first nonstop flight around the world without refueling.