Israeli general warns of possible attack

Israeli general warns of possible attack

JERUSALEM — The commander of Israeli military intelligence warned Tuesday that Palestinian militants will try to stage a large-scale attack on Israel’s 60th anniversary celebrations next month.

“There are attempts to carry out a ‘quality’ attack of either kidnapping Israeli civilians or a major bombing” during the celebrations, Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin was quoted as saying in a text released by the prime minister’s office.

Speaking at a closed Cabinet session, Yadlin compared the potential attack to the suicide bombing on a Jewish holiday in 2002 that killed 30 people in a hotel on Israel’s coast.

Prince William visits troops in Afghanistan

LONDON — Prince William flew into Afghanistan for a secret visit over the weekend to meet with British troops, a royal official said Tuesday.

William, 25, piloted a C-17 Globemaster transport plane on part of the flight to Kandahar in the country’s troubled south Sunday, according to a spokesman for Clarence House, the official residence of William’s father, Prince Charles.

“Obviously, one day he’s going to be head of the armed forces,” the spokesman said, speaking anonymously in line with royal policy. “It was going to be natural for him to see operations in the theater.”

Ohio lawmakers seek to close anti-smoking agency

COLUMBUS — Lawmakers and the governor on Tuesday decided to try to dissolve a state agency that attempted to prevent $270 million originally budgeted for anti-smoking programs to be used by state officials for a plan to create jobs.

Proposals introduced in the Ohio House and Senate would end the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation and give $40 million of the money in dispute to the Ohio Department of Health to pay the foundation’s bills.

The foundation had tried to protect $190 million of the money by giving it to the American Legacy Foundation, a Washington-based anti-smoking group, and has sued the state to get it.

Convicted killer found dead on Fla. death row

RAIFORD, Fla. — A former Broward County librarian condemned for fatally beating his girlfriend with a hammer was found dead in his cell on Florida’s death row from what appeared to be a self-inflicted injury, authorities said Tuesday.

The body of William Coday, 51, convicted in the 1997 hammer slaying and stabbing of his girlfriend in Fort Lauderdale, was discovered by corrections officers about 2:30 a.m. Monday in his cell at Union Correctional Institution.

“It appeared to be a self-inflicted injury. The medical examiner will determine the exact cause of death,” Department of Corrections spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said.

Agency loses appeal in WTC bombing case

NEW YORK — The World Trade Center owner was liable for the fatal 1993 bombing by terrorists because it failed to secure the complex’s underground parking garage, an appeals court said Tuesday.

A five-judge panel of the state Supreme Court unanimously agreed with a lower court judge who had refused to set aside a jury verdict that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was negligent and more than 50 percent liable.

The Manhattan jury found in 2005 that the Port Authority had not properly protected its underground public parking garage, where terrorists blew up a rental van loaded with explosives Feb. 26, 1993.

Comedian Al Franken to pay $70K in back taxes

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Senate candidate Al Franken, dogged by accusations that he failed to file tax returns in California, said Tuesday he will pay about $70,000 in back income taxes in 17 states going back to 2003.

Most of the income at issue was from speeches and other paid appearances by the comedian-turned candidate, who said he got bad advice from his accountant but takes responsibility for the errors.

The Minnesota Democrat told The Associated Press that he and his wife, Franni, “paid taxes on every cent of income we ever had.” He said that during the years in question, he followed the accountant’s advice and paid his entire income tax bill to the city and state where he lived at the time. He lived in New York City from 2003-05.

Associated Press