DUPLICATION ALERT: DDN, SNS — SUDAN item on security forces opening fire on funeral mourners runs as a full story.
LOUISIANA
Pastor gunned down
during sermon
A pastor was fatally shot as he preached to a crowd of more than 60 during a revival service Friday night, and a suspect was arrested, law enforcement officials said. The shooting occurred about 8:20 p.m. Friday at Tabernacle of Praise Worship Center in Lake Charles. Sixty-five people were inside at the time, including the victim’s wife. Deputies have no information on a motive or on whether the two men knew each other. A gunman walked into the church and shot Pastor Ronald J. Harris Sr. as he was preaching. Woodrow Karey, 53, of Lake Charles is charged with second-degree murder and was in jail Saturday. Bond was set at $1 million. The gunman fled the church, but later surrendered without incident.
ITALY
Resignations spark
government crisis
Italy’s fragile coalition government was pushed into a full-fledged crisis Saturday after five ministers from former Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s political party announced their resignations. The move drew the ire of Premier Enrico Letta, who accused Berlusconi of a “crazy” gesture aimed at covering up his personal affairs. The five-month-old government has teetered for weeks since the high court confirmed Berlusconi’s tax fraud conviction. Berlusconi’s center-right People of Liberty Party is in an unusual coalition of rival forces with Letta’s center-left Democratic Party, and the resignations signals the end of the alliance. The announcement by the center-right ministers came after Berlusconi urged ministers in his party to step down if the government doesn’t revoke an increase to Italy’s value-added tax that takes effect next week.
SUDAN
Police open fire
on funeral march
Sudanese security forces in pickup trucks opened fire on Saturday on hundreds of mourners marching after the funeral of a protester killed a day earlier, the latest violence in a week of demonstrations calling for the ouster of longtime President Omar al-Bashir. The man killed was a pharmacist from a prominent family, suggesting the heavy security crackdown could deepen discontent, spread unrest and upset the complex network of power centers al-Bashir relies upon to stay in power. Three female protesters interviewed separately said dozens of pickup trucks and security forces surrounded them in a main street in the capital Khartoum before firing tear gas and live ammunition.
NEBRASKA
Vintage auto auction draws thousands
A handful of barely driven vintage Chevrolets fetched more than half a million dollars on Saturday at an auction that drew thousands of car buffs from around the world to a small northeast Nebraska town. The auction of more than 500 old cars and pickups was expected to continue today. The collection belonged to Ray Lambrecht and his wife, Mildred, who ran a Chevrolet dealership in downtown Pierce for five decades before retiring in 1996. Lambrecht stashed many of his unsold cars in a warehouse, at his farm and other spots around town if they didn’t sell in the first year. The first vehicle sold — a sky-blue, 1958 Chevy Cameo pickup driven 1.3 miles — secured the largest bid at $140,000.
NIGERIA
At least 42 feared drowned in ferry accident
A ferry carrying traders and their goods broke up in stormy weather on the Niger River, drowning as many as 42 people as rescuers search for 200 missing victims, a Nigerian emergency official said Saturday. Spokesman Ibrahim Farinloye of the National Emergency Management Agency said the ferry was carrying traders to a weekly market at Malali village when the storm erupted Friday afternoon. The official News Agency of Nigeria reported 15 bodies had been recovered and buried alongside the river.
SYRIA
Syria vows to abide by U.N. resolution
Syria will cooperate fully with U.N. inspectors charged with securing and destroying the country’s chemical weapons stockpile, the nation’s prime minister said Saturday. The comments from Wael al-Halqi came a day after the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to purge Syria of its chemical weapons program. The U.N. resolution, passed after two weeks of white-knuckle negotiations, allows the start of a mission to rid Syria’s regime of its estimated 1,000-ton chemical arsenal by mid-2014.
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