Pavarotti receives final standing ovation

Pavarotti receives
final standing ovation

MODENA, Italy — Luciano Pavarotti received a final, tearful standing ovation at his somber funeral Saturday after a recording of the Italian tenor and his father singing “Panis Angelicus” filled his hometown cathedral.

Many of the mourners cried as Pavarotti’s unmistakable voice filled the cathedral, a poignant reminder of the talent lost with his death Thursday at age 71 after a yearlong battle with cancer.

Pavarotti and his father had sung the duet in 1978 in the same cathedral — an event Archbishop Benito Cocchi said was described by someone who attended it as “a weaving of two tenors.”

In a series of eulogies, Pavarotti was remembered as one of the world’s greatest singers, a symbol of Italy, a humanitarian and — in a message from his 4-year-old daughter Alice — a father.

“Papa, you have loved me so much. I know you will always protect me,” his daughter said in a message read during the service, while her mother, Nicoletta Mantovani, sobbed in the front row.

Car bombing kills
at least 28 in Algeria

ALGIERS, Algeria — A car bombing killed 28 coast guard officers in Algeria on Saturday, just days after a blast ripped through a crowd waiting for the president. Both suspected al-Qaida-linked attacks targeted symbols of the government as it tries to wipe out an Islamic insurgency.

Although there was no claim of responsibility in either attack, al-Qaida’s North African affiliate has carried out a spate of recent bombings that have shattered the Algerian government’s efforts — successful until recently — to restore calm after a 15-year Islamist insurgency.

The government has responded by intensifying military crackdowns on Islamic militants hiding out in remote scrubland. Interior Minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni warned terrorists Friday that they have “one choice: turn themselves in, or die.”

First lady Laura Bush has
surgery for pinched nerves

WASHINGTON — First lady Laura Bush underwent surgery Saturday to relieve pain from pinched nerves in her neck. The White House said the procedure was successful.

The problem kept her from joining President Bush on a trip to Australia this week for the annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Sydney.

Mrs. Bush underwent the 21⁄2-hour procedure at The George Washington University Hospital. The surgical team was led by Dr. Anthony Caputy, chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery and co-director of the Neurological Institute, in consultation with Dr. Richard Tubb, who is the president’s doctor.

Sex offenders told to move

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — More than 2,700 recently paroled sex offenders in California have been told they have to move because they are violating a new law that bars them from living near schools and parks.

On Friday, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation finished notifying 2,741 sex offenders that they have 45 days to find legal housing, or they will be sent back to prison for violating their parole, said spokesman Bill Sessa.

The department previously estimated that no more than 2,100 parolees were violating the law approved by California voters in November. Jessica’s Law, named after a 9-year-old child kidnapped and killed by a molester in Florida, prohibits offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park.

Associated Press