WWII pilot dead at 89

WWII pilot dead at 89
NEW YORK -- Robert Rosenthal, a World War II bomber pilot who twice survived being shot down in raids over Europe and later served on the U.S. legal team that prosecuted Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg, has died at age 89. Rosenthal, who lived in Harrison, N.Y., died April 20 of multiple myeloma, according to a son, Steven Rosenthal, of Newton, Mass.
With 16 decorations including the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second-highest award for heroism, Rosenthal was a quintessential example of the young Army pilots, some barely out of their teens, who defied seemingly hopeless odds to carry out daylight strategic bombing raids against Germany's industrial war machine from 1942 to 1945. His bomber was dubbed "Rosie's Riveter," a play on both his name and the sobriquet given to women working in U.S. defense factories.
Fight against menu spam
NEW YORK -- You've heard of e-mail spam -- now a New York City councilman wants to do something about menu spam, the unwanted menus and circulars that have a way of appearing on city doorsteps and under doors. Simcha Felder has introduced legislation that would make it illegal to distribute menus, circulars and fliers to homes and apartment buildings that display a sign indicating promotional materials are unwanted. Felder's bill calls for a fine of at least 50 for distributors that leave them anyway.
Helping his girlfriend
WASHINGTON -- Embattled World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz plans to argue that the institution's ethics committee knew of his involvement in securing a promotion and pay raise for his girlfriend. Wolfowitz, an architect of the Iraq war in his preceding Pentagon job, will cite a Feb. 28, 2006, letter that his attorney characterizes as showing that bank's ethics committee had looked at the arrangement.
The letter didn't specifically mention Wolfowitz or his girlfriend, Shaha Riza, by name. However, Wolfowitz's attorney, Robert Bennett, said the letter is proof that Melkert was aware of Wolfowitz's role in securing the compensation package. Wolfowitz is scheduled to appear today before a special bank panel probing whether he violated bank rules in his handling of the 2005 promotion of bank employee Riza to a high-paying State Department job.
Minority drivers targeted
WASHINGTON -- Black, Hispanic and white drivers are equally likely to be pulled over by police, but blacks and Hispanics are much more likely to be searched and arrested, a federal study found. Police were much more likely to threaten or use force against blacks and Hispanics than against whites in any encounter, whether at a traffic stop or elsewhere, according to the Justice Department.
The study, released Sunday by the department's Bureau of Justice Statistics, covered police contacts with the public during 2005 and was based on interviews by the Census Bureau with nearly 64,000 people age 16 or over.
No trans fat at KFC
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- KFC's fried chicken buckets soon will be stamped with a health message along with the famous likeness of its founder, Colonel Harland Sanders. The banner proclaims that its chicken has zero grams of trans fat per serving.
The Louisville-based chain announced today that all 5,500 of its U.S. restaurants have stopped frying chicken in artery-clogging trans fat. Sister brand Taco Bell also said today that its U.S. restaurants have completely switched to an oil with zero grams of trans fat.
Columbine memorial
LITTLETON, Colo. -- Thanks to an anonymous donor, a memorial to the 13 people killed at Columbine High School will be completed this summer. The memorial's total cost, including donated labor and material, is 1.5 million. The memorial, on a hill above the school south of Denver, includes a stone Inner Ring of Remembrance with a station for each of the 13 victims. Parents and siblings of victims will be allowed to post remembrances of their lost loved ones on the inner ring. Others in the community, including the wounded, will put their thoughts on the outer Healing Ring. More than 2,500 people have donated, including former President Clinton. He came twice to Colorado to raise money, the second time writing a personal check for 50,000.
700,000 march in Turkey
ISTANBUL, Turkey -- The possibility of an observant Muslim president is pitting Turkey's deeply secular military and civilian establishment against its religiously oriented ruling party in a fundamental struggle over national identity.
At least 700,000 people marched against Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul's candidacy in Istanbul Sunday, waving the red national flag and invoking Turkey's long secular tradition. Powerful generals hinted they may step in to resolve the deadlock.
Associated Press