Briefs package

Demonstrators protesting U.S. drone strikes roughed up drivers Sunday as they sought to stop trucks carrying NATO troop supplies and equipment from passing through northwest Pakistan. The rally came a day after a group led by politician and cricket star Imran Khan said it would prevent NATO supply trucks making their way to and from Afghanistan from traveling through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province until the U.S. stops drone strikes. The U.S. leads the NATO coalition of troops battling the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan.

MASSACHUSETTS

Journal apologizes for Jews, Jesus essay

A Christian journal run by Harvard University students has apologized for publishing and republishing an essay by an anonymous writer who wrote that Jews deserve to be punished by God for killing Jesus. The essay was posted on the Harvard Ichthus website on Wednesday, removed, edited, reposted Friday morning and removed again, The Boston Globe reported. Ichthus editor-in-chief Aaron Gyde posted an apology on the journal’s website Saturday on behalf of the journal’s editorial board.

HAITI

Haitians expelled over border killings

The Dominican Republic expelled at least 244 Haitians after an elderly Dominican couple was slain in an apparent burglary near the border between the two countries and a mob retaliated by killing a Haitian man, migrant advocates said Sunday. The Rev. Antoine Lissaint of Haiti’s Jesuit Refugee and Migrant Organization said a group of Dominicans killed the man because they blamed people of Haitian descent for the fatal stabbing of the couple. Dominican police said Jose Mendez Diaz and Luja Encarnacion Diaz, both 70, were killed during an apparent home burglary in which the killers got away with two sacks of coffee.

CALIFORNIA

Felony charges sought in hate case

Civil rights activists are calling on prosecutors to file felony hate-crime charges against four white students accused of harassing a black student at San Jose State University. NAACP leaders urged Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen to bring felony charges against the white students, who face misdemeanor hate-crime and battery charges. A police report said the white students taunted their freshman dorm-mate with racial slurs, outfitted their dormitory suite with a Confederate flag, barricaded the victim in his room and placed a bicycle lock around his neck.

INDIA

Gays demand end to discrimination

Gay rights activists sang songs and carried rainbow-colored flags while marching to the beat of traditional Indian drums Sunday as they paraded through India’s capital to demand an end to the stigmatization of gays in the deeply conservative country. The demonstrators urged an end to all forms of discrimination against gays, lesbians and transgenders in India, four years after a colonial-era law that criminalized gay sex was overturned. The march ended with a public meeting at Jantar Mantar, the main area for protests in New Delhi.

EGYPT

President’s law restricts protests

Egypt’s interim president on Sunday banned public gatherings of more than 10 people without prior government approval, imposing hefty fines and prison terms for violators in a bid to stifle the near-constant protests roiling the country. The new law is more restrictive than regulations used under the rule of autocrat Hosni Mubarak, overthrown in Egypt’s 2011 uprising that marked the start of unrest in the country. Interim President Adly Mansour’s law requires three-day prior notice for protests.

PENNSYLVANIA

Comic book art sells for $112,015

Cover art from a 50-year-old comic book featuring Superman’s alter-ego, Clark Kent, as President John F. Kennedy in disguise was sold at an auction for $112,015. Curt Swan’s original cover drawing for Action Comics #309 sold at auction last week in York County, the York Daily Record reported. Alex Winter, general manager of Hake’s Americana and Collectibles, said the comic book came out days after the president was shot to death Nov. 22, 1963.