Pavarotti seriously ill

Pavarotti seriously ill

ROME — Luciano Pavarotti’s health has deteriorated and the tenor was in very serious condition, suffering kidney problems and losing consciousness, a local Italian TV station reported Wednesday. Television station E’ TV Antenna-1 in Modena reported that the 71-year-old tenor, who has pancreatic cancer, had lost consciousness and was suffering from kidney problems.

Pavarotti was released from the hospital Aug. 25, more than two weeks after he was admitted with a high fever. The opera star had surgery for the cancer in July 2006 in a New York hospital. Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly forms of the disease, though doctors said the surgery offered improved hopes for survival.

Professor resigns

CHICAGO — A DePaul University professor who has drawn criticism for accusing some Jews of improperly using the legacy of the Holocaust agreed Wednesday to resign immediately “for everybody’s sake.” University officials and political science professor Norman Finkelstein issued a statement announcing the resignation, which came as about 100 protesters gathered outside the dean’s office to support him.

Finkelstein, the son of Holocaust survivors, was denied tenure in June after spending six years on DePaul’s faculty, and his remaining class was cut by DePaul last month. His most recent book, “Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History,” is largely an attack on Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz’s “The Case for Israel.” In his book, Finkelstein argues that Israel uses the outcry over perceived anti-Semitism as a weapon to stifle criticism.

Data-mining tool scrapped

WASHINGTON — The Homeland Security Department scrapped an ambitious anti-terrorism data-mining tool after investigators found it was tested with information about real people without required privacy safeguards.

The department has spent $42 million since 2003 developing the software tool known as ADVISE, the Analysis, Dissemination, Visualization, Insight and Semantic Enhancement program, at the Lawrence Livermore and Pacific Northwest national laboratories. It was intended for wide use by DHS components, including immigration, customs, border protection, biological defense and its intelligence office.

Fossett search continues

MINDEN, Nev. — Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett vanished somewhere across a landscape of soaring peaks and sagebrush desert notorious for winds so powerful and tricky they can swirl an airplane like a leaf and even shear off a wing. As the search for Fossett dragged into a second day Wednesday with some false leads but no sign of the 63-year-old aviator or his plane, some veteran pilots speculated he may have fallen victim to the treacherous and sometimes deadly Sierra Nevada winds that squeeze through the narrow canyons.

Fossett, who over the years risked his life circling the globe in a hot-air balloon and an experimental lightweight aircraft, disappeared after taking off from a private airstrip Monday in an ordinary single-engine plane to scout sites for an attempt at a land-speed record in a rocket-propelled car.

Fight kills roommate

TUCSON, Ariz. — A fight between two roommates at the University of Arizona on Wednesday left one dead and the other hospitalized with injuries not considered life-threatening, authorities said. The 18-year-old woman who died had told police last week that she suspected her roommate of stealing from her, authorities said.

Police identified the dead student as Mia Henderson of the Navajo Nation but released few other details. The surviving woman’s name was not released. Henderson had filed a police report Aug. 28 saying that she had been the victim of a property theft and that she suspected her roommate, University Police Chief Anthony Daykin said.

Bomber carried nukes

WASHINGTON — A B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear warheads and flown for more than three hours across several states last week, prompting an Air Force investigation and the firing of one commander, Pentagon officials said Wednesday.

The incident was so serious that President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were quickly informed and Gates has asked for daily briefings on the Air Force probe, said Defense Department press secretary Geoff Morrell. He said, “At no time was the public in danger.”

The plane was carrying advanced cruise missiles from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., to Barksdale Air Force Base, La., on Aug. 30, said the officials.

Associated Press