Broadway settlement

Broadway settlement

NEW YORK — Broadway stagehands and theater producers reached a tentative agreement Wednesday night to end a strike that has shut down more than two dozen plays and musicals for more than two weeks. The settlement came after two days of marathon, all-night sessions and months of negotiation between Local 1 and the League of American Theatres and Producers. The walkout, which began Nov. 10, has cost the city and theaters millions of dollars in lost income.

O.J. pleads innocent

LAS VEGAS — O.J. Simpson stood before a judge Wednesday and firmly spoke a phrase he has uttered in other courtrooms in the past: “Not guilty.” This time the former football star was arraigned, along with two other men, on suspicion of kidnapping and armed robbery of sports memorabilia dealers in a strange case that has ballooned to 12 charges that could send Simpson and the others to prison for life. His lawyer said jury selection would be an “onerous” task that would probably last longer than the trial itself. “I am very concerned that we get 12 people on the jury that can listen to the evidence that occurs in the courtroom,” attorney Yale Galanter said on the courthouse steps. “People are going to have opinions.”

Saudi terrorism arrests

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia announced Wednesday that it had arrested 208 suspected terrorists in six cells and thwarted several planned attacks in the kingdom’s largest terror sweep to date. Among the plots, the Interior Ministry said, the capture of eight al-Qaida-linked suspects “pre-empted an imminent attack on an oil installation” in the country’s east, which is home to most Saudi petroleum reserves. A ministry statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency said the eight were led by a non-Saudi man, who was among those arrested. Eighteen other suspects led by a non-Saudi missile expert were arrested for “planning to smuggle eight missiles into the kingdom to carry out terrorist operations,” the statement said.

Nazi documents unsealed

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — After more than 60 years, Nazi documents stored in a vast warehouse in Germany were unsealed Wednesday, opening a rich resource for Holocaust historians and for survivors to delve into their own tormented past. The treasure of documents could open new avenues of study into the inner workings of Nazi persecution from the exploitation of slave labor to the conduct of medical experiments. The archive’s managers planned a conference of scholars next year to map out its unexplored contents. The files entrusted to the International Tracing Service, an arm of the International Committee of the Red Cross, have been used to find the fate of missing persons or document atrocities to support compensation claims.

Oil pipeline fire kills 2

CLEARBROOK, Minn. — A fire erupted at a pipeline carrying crude oil from Canada to the Midwest on Wednesday, killing two workers who were repairing it, authorities said. The workers were fixing the underground pipeline when fumes apparently escaped and ignited the blaze, said Kristine Chapin, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Public Safety. No other injuries were reported. The Clearwater County Sheriff’s Department said it expected the fire to continue through the night before burning itself out.

Million-dollar goof-up

AIKEN, S.C. — A bank teller had a million reasons to deny this transaction. Police say a man tried to open an account with a $1 million bill, which does not exist. The teller refused and called police while the man started to curse at bank workers, said Aiken County Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Michael Frank. Alexander D. Smith, 31, of Augusta, Ga., was charged with disorderly conduct and two counts of forgery, Frank said. The second forgery charge came after investigators learned Smith bought several cartons of cigarettes from a nearby grocery store with a stolen check, Frank said.

Earthquakes hit Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A moderate earthquake shook the state’s largest city for several seconds Wednesday, but no injuries or damage were reported, authorities said. The quake, with an estimated magnitude of 5.0, was centered in a remote area about 60 miles northwest of Anchorage, according to the Alaska Earthquake Information Center. Another earthquake with a magnitude of 3.4 was reported Wednesday morning and was felt in Homer, about 125 miles southwest of Anchorage.

Associated Press