Suspected extremist jailed in slaying of filmmaker

Suspected extremist jailedin slaying of filmmaker
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- A suspected Muslim extremist with alleged terrorist ties was under arrest today in the death of a Dutch filmmaker who criticized the treatment of women under Islam.
Theo van Gogh, 47, was repeatedly shot and stabbed to death on an Amsterdam street on Tuesday.
"Don't do it. Don't do it. Have mercy. Have mercy!" the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper quoted Van Gogh as begging his killer.
Another Dutch newspaper, the Telegraaf daily, carried a large color photograph of Van Gogh's body with a knife protruding from his chest under the headline "Butchered."
"We're not going to take this," the Dagblad said.
The paper said the killer shot Van Gogh eight or nine times, then calmly bent over his victim and slit his throat with a knife.
Police arrested a 26-year-old man with dual Moroccan-Dutch citizenship. His name was not released.
American soldier pleadsguilty to desertion
CAMP ZAMA, Japan -- Four decades after he vanished from his Army unit, a frail, tearful, 64-year-old American soldier pleaded guilty today to desertion, saying he wanted to avoid dangerous duty on the Korean peninsula and Vietnam.
Sgt. Charles Robert Jenkins was given a 30-day sentence and a dishonorable discharge, but the judge recommended suspending the jail term. The decision is up to the military, which was expected to rule on the recommendation soon.
The plea, which came during a court-martial at this Army camp outside of Tokyo, was part of a bargain with U.S. military officials to win Jenkins a lesser sentence.
The maximum sentence in his case was life in prison.
The North Carolina native lived in communist North Korea for 39 years after he fled his post on the Korea peninsula.
Monkeys on the attack
GAUHATI, India -- Monkeys lurking at an ancient Hindu temple in India's northeast have attacked up to 300 children over three weeks, temple officials said.
"They hide in trees and swoop on unsuspecting children loitering about in the temple premises or walking by, clawing them and even sucking a bit of blood," Bani Kumar Sharma, a priest at the Kamakhya temple in Assam state, said Tuesday.
At least 2,000 rhesus monkeys roam in and around the temple, but none had shown aggressive behavior in the past, he said.
Some say the monkeys may be turning violent because of shrinking living spaces, or because animals once kept as pets might not have been able to adjust to new lives around the temple.
Spoiled flu vaccine
WEST ALLIS, Wis. -- Nearly 1,900 doses of the scarce flu vaccine spoiled when a refrigerator broke down, the second batch at the same hospital to be ruined in a month.
The egg-based vaccine had been given to 300 patients and 725 doctors and staff members at West Allis Memorial Hospital. Another 850 doses were discarded because it may have lost its effectiveness, said Scott Thompson, vice president of medical operations with Aurora Health Care.
Those who received shots were never in danger of falling ill and will be revaccinated, Thompson said.
Students charged in plot
PLYMOUTH, Mass. -- Two students have pleaded innocent to charges that they plotted a Columbine-style attack on their high school.
Tobin Kerns, 16, and Joseph Nee, 18, were jailed without bail Tuesday, although a judge said she would consider a request to release Nee based on arguments that he is not dangerous.
A Plymouth County grand jury indicted the teenagers last month on charges of conspiracy to commit murder, promotion of anarchy and threatened use of deadly weapons at school.
Authorities learned of the alleged plot to initiate an attack using guns and bombs from two other students at Marshfield High School.
Associated Press