hOlympic torch protests

hOlympic torch protests

SAN FRANCISCO — Security was tightened on the Golden Gate Bridge and elsewhere around the city Tuesday as officials prepared for massive protests of China’s crackdown in Tibet during the Olympic torch’s only North American stop on its journey to Beijing.

The Olympic flame was whisked to a secret location shortly after its pre-dawn arrival Tuesday after widespread and chaotic demonstrations during the torch relay in London and Paris. Activists are protesting China’s human rights record, its grip on Tibet and support for Sudan despite years of bloodshed in Darfur. The flame is scheduled to be paraded through the city today.

Gas pipeline plan unveiled

JUNEAU, Alaska — Two of the world’s largest oil companies unveiled plans Tuesday to jointly develop a multibillion dollar pipeline to move natural gas from Alaska’s energy-rich North Slope to U.S. markets.

Britain’s BP PLC and ConocoPhillips, based in Houston, said they plan to spend $600 million in the first phase of the project over the next three years, beginning this summer.

Conan O’Brien’s stalker, a priest, pleads guilty

NEW YORK — A priest accused of stalking Conan O’Brien and calling himself one of the talk show host’s “most dangerous fans” pleaded guilty Tuesday to disorderly conduct.

The Rev. David Ajemian, 46, admitted in Manhattan Criminal Court that he sent letters and DVDs to O’Brien’s home and office as well as sending mail to the home of O’Brien’s parents. The Boston priest said he never meant to cause anxiety or to upset anyone.

Judge Rita Mella ordered Ajemian to pay a $95 court charge and signed a two-year order of protection directing him to stay away from O’Brien.

Union leaders arrested

BUFFALO, N.Y. — A dozen leaders and members of a construction union were arrested Tuesday and charged with a decade of attacks against nonunion workers and their families, and prosecutors said some of the crimes were aided by the local’s access to state motor vehicle records.

The president of Operating Engineers Local 17, Mark Kirsch, was among those charged with extortion and racketeering after a five-year investigation.

Fayed abandons quest

LONDON — Mohamed Al Fayed said Tuesday that he was abandoning a quest to prove his belief that Princess Diana and his son were killed by British secret agents.

Al Fayed said he reluctantly accepted a coroner’s jury ruling that Diana and Dodi Fayed were unlawfully killed due to reckless speed and drinking by their driver, and by the reckless pursuit of the paparazzi chasing them.

“Enough is enough,” Fayed said in an interview with ITV News broadcast Tuesday night.

Soaring food prices prompt riots in Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Hungry Haitians stormed the presidential palace Tuesday to demand the resignation of President Rene Preval over soaring food prices and U.N. peacekeepers battled rioters with rubber bullets and tear gas.

Rioters were chased away from the presidential palace but by late afternoon had left trails of destruction across Port-au-Prince. Concrete barricades and burned-out cars blocked streets, while windows were smashed and buildings set on fire from the capital’s center up through its densely populated hills.

Baby born with two faces

SAINI SUNPURA, India — A baby with two faces was born in a northern Indian village, where she is doing well and is being worshipped as the reincarnation of a Hindu goddess, her father said Tuesday.

The baby, Lali, apparently has an extremely rare condition known as craniofacial duplication, where a single head has two faces. Except for her ears, all of Lali’s facial features are duplicated — she has two noses, two pairs of lips and two pairs of eyes.

“My daughter is fine — like any other child,” said Vinod Singh, 23.

Combined dispatches