PROTESTERS CLASH WITH GOVERNMENT SUPPORTERS

Protesters clash withgovernment supporters
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Hezbollah-led protesters burned tires and cars and clashed with government supporters Tuesday, paralyzing Beirut and areas across Lebanon in the worst violence yet in the pro-Iranian group's campaign to topple U.S.-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora. At least three people were killed and dozens injured as the two camps battled each other around street barricades with stone-throwing and in some cases gunfire. Black smoke poured into the sky over Beirut from burning roadblocks. The fighting quickly took on a dangerous sectarian tone in a country whose divided communities fought a bloody 1975-1990 civil war. Gunmen from neighboring districts in the northern city of Tripoli -- one largely Sunni Muslim, the other largely Alawites, a Shiite Muslim offshoot -- fought each other, causing two of the fatalities.
Suspect confessed moreslayings, prosecutors say
BOISE, Idaho -- A man accused of kidnapping and molesting two Idaho children after killing their family has confessed the slayings of three other children in Washington state and California, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. In court documents, the prosecutors cited the confessions to the old killings as they argued to seek the death penalty against Joseph Edward Duncan III, who was indicted last week on charges of kidnapping two northern Idaho children and killing one of them. "The defendant has engaged in a continuing pattern of violence, attempted violence and threatened violence," prosecutors said. Duncan "is likely to commit criminal acts of violence in the future that would constitute a continuing and serious threat to the lives and safety of others." Roger Peven, Duncan's attorney, said he had not seen the filing and could not comment. Duncan is accused of kidnapping Dylan Groene, 9, and his sister, Shasta, then 8, and taking them to the mountains of Montana, where he sexually abused them for weeks before killing Dylan.
State senator accusedof groping former page
PIERRE, S.D. -- A former legislative page told lawmakers Tuesday that a state senator sexually groped him last year while the two shared a motel room at the start of the young man's weeklong stint in the Legislature. A lawyer for the Senate identified the page as Austin Wiese, 19, whose family was close to Sen. Dan Sutton. While it is The Associated Press' policy not to identify people who say they are the victims of sexual assault, Wiese's name was used in the Senate committee's public hearing, which was carried live on the Internet, and has been circulated by other media in the state. The Senate has accused Sutton of sexual misconduct. He could be censured, disciplined or expelled when the full Senate votes on the matter.
Australian kept off flightover anti-Bush T-shirt
MELBOURNE, Australia -- A man was removed from a Qantas flight to London because he would not take off a T-shirt with a picture of President Bush and the slogan "World's No. 1 terrorist." Allen Jasson said Monday he was turned away last Friday at a Qantas departure gate in Melbourne. Jasson said he wore the shirt unchallenged through official security checks, then approached a Qantas staff member at the gate to draw attention to it because he had been asked to remove it before boarding a domestic flight days earlier. "I raised the issue, but I wanted primarily to thank Qantas for relenting when he told me: 'I'm surprised you got this far; the staff should have stopped you,'" Jasson said. Qantas Airways Ltd. said in a statement: "Whether made verbally or on a T-shirt, comments with the potential to offend other customers or threaten the security of a Qantas group aircraft will not be tolerated." Jasson, an Australian who lives in London, said Qantas had offered to put him on another flight if he does not wear the shirt. But he has declined. "I might forfeit the fare, but I have made up my mind that I would rather stand up for the principle of free speech," he said.
EU countries were awareof CIA flights, report says
BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Britain, Poland, Germany, Italy and other EU nations knew about secret CIA flights over Europe and the abduction of terror suspects by U.S. agents, according to a report approved by a special committee of the European Parliament on Tuesday. The report, the conclusion of a yearlong investigation into CIA activities in Europe, also accused EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and other high-ranking officials of failing to fully cooperate with the probe. It also called for unspecified sanctions against member states found to have violated EU human rights principles. But, in a crucial amendment pushed through by conservatives who opposed the document, the report said there is no evidence that CIA secret prisons were based in Poland -- an allegation that prompted the investigation in November 2005.
Associated Press