BOUNCER ARRESTED

Bouncer arrested
NEW YORK -- A nightclub employee was arrested on an assault charge after a fight that led to the death of a 19-year-old patron, police and prosecutors said Saturday. Francisco Solivan, 24, was awaiting arraignment following several hours of questioning about the death of Antonios Fasarakis, police said. The fight occurred early Friday outside Club Soma in Queens, police said. Fasarakis was pronounced dead at a hospital. Witnesses and investigators described Solivan as a bouncer, but prosecutors said he was not licensed by the state to work as a security guard and told detectives he was the club's "fire evacuation coordinator." Police said Solivan was detained on charges of manslaughter and assault. However, Nicole Navas, a spokeswoman for Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, said prosecutors would arraign him only on a charge of third-degree assault and refer the case to a grand jury for additional charges, if any.
Man turns in son
GREENBELT, Md. -- The father of a man accused of plotting to bomb an abortion clinic said he felt he had no choice but to contact police about his son's activities. Robert Weiler Sr. told The Washington Post for an article published Saturday that the decision was agonizing, but that "our concern was just to make sure nobody got hurt." Weiler, 49, said that like their son, he and his wife, Catherine, oppose abortion, but they do not condone violence. "It's just something that he believed in very fervently, and in my opinion he went way over the top," the father said. "We became aware of what he was doing, and we felt obligated to contact the police." He declined to say specifically how they knew about their son's alleged plans. Robert Weiler Jr., 25, was arrested Thursday and is expected to appear in federal court Monday to face four weapons charges. The pipe bomb authorities believe Weiler made for an attack at a clinic in the Washington suburb of College Park went off while technicians tried to defuse it Thursday, setting fire to the house where it was stored. No one was hurt.
Global economy strong
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- Finance ministers from the world's most industrialized nations were upbeat about the global economy Saturday despite global jitters about rising interest rates and tumbling stocks. The G-8 ministers' final statement focused on the dangers of galloping oil prices and "widening" global imbalances. But it did not mention interest rate increases in several countries and recent declines on world markets. And ministers later brushed aside fears of economic turbulence. The ministers' statement made no direct reference to the U.S. trade deficit but recognized that tackling global imbalances was a "shared responsibility." The U.S. Commerce Department said Friday that the trade deficit rose to $63.4 billion in April after two months of rare declines, pushed higher by surging oil prices and a flood of furniture, televisions and toys from China. Snow reaffirmed a goal of slashing the deficit before President Bush leaves office in 2008. "We are well on target for cutting the deficit in half," he said.
Hariri probe progresses
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- A U.N.-backed investigator reported on Saturday "considerable progress" in his probe of a former Lebanese prime minister's assassination, and said most of his work could be wrapped up in several months. The second report from Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz's investigators said Syria -- which had earlier been accused of obstructing the probe into Rafik Hariri's death -- has cooperated in a "generally satisfactory" manner. And the team sought an extension for up to one year to finish its work. "Syria has responded to all the commission's requests, and did so in a timely manner, and in some instances, comprehensive responses were provided." Some senior-level Syrian officials have been implicated in the Feb. 14, 2005, bombing that killed Hariri -- a quiet opponent of Syrian domination in Lebanon -- and 22 others. Earlier reports from the team investigating Hariri's death have implicated Brig. Gen. Assaf Shawkat, Syria's military intelligence chief and the brother-in-law of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Activist leader stricken
YANGON, Myanmar -- The detained head of Myanmar's pro-democracy movement, Aung San Suu Kyi, was stricken with a stomach illness but police said Saturday it was not serious enough to require hospitalization. Police chief Maj. Gen. Khin Yi confirmed accounts from opposition groups that Suu Kyi had suffered from stomach problems in the past few days. Earlier Saturday, a spokesman for Suu Kyi's party said she had returned home after receiving treatment at a hospital. "Aung San Suu Kyi was taken to hospital for treatment yesterday with diarrhea but she is now back at her house," Nyan Win, a spokesman for the National League for Democracy party told The Associated Press. "We heard from our sources that her condition has improved." Suu Kyi, 60, is one of the world's most prominent political prisoners. Her release has been sought by many world leaders including U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and President Bush.
Associated Press
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