New sketch released

New sketch released

LONDON — Madeleine McCann’s parents on Sunday released a new sketch of a man they say could have been involved in their daughter’s disappearance last year during a family vacation in Portugal.

The illustrations are based on descriptions a British vacationer gave of a man acting suspiciously at the holiday resort where the girl went missing in Praia da Luz.

Madeleine disappeared in May, days before her 4th birthday. Her parents say they believe she was abducted from their holiday apartment as they had dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant.

Family spokesman Clarence Mitchell told a London news conference the image released Sunday is similar to a previous description of a man seen carrying a child on the night of the girl’s disappearance.

Kate and Gerry McCann returned to Britain in September, a day after they were named as formal suspects in the case. They maintain their innocence, and no one has been charged in connection with the disappearance.

Disputing drug claim

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Canadian police on Sunday disputed claims by the U.S. drug czar that organized crime rings in Canada are dumping dangerous, methamphetamine-laced ecstasy into the United States.

John Walters, who heads the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, recently released a statement warning public health and safety officials of the dangers posed by turbo-charged ecstasy from Canada.

The head of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s national drug branch said Sunday he did not know why Walters would issue the statement without checking facts with Canadian officials.

“I shook my head when I read the release that they put out,” said RCMP Supt. Paul Nadeau.

Walters’ office did not return a call seeking comment Sunday.

The statement issued earlier this month warns public health officials about a “dangerous new drug threat coming from Canada.” Walters said that progress in limiting ecstasy availability is in “jeopardy of being rolled back by Canadian criminal organizations.”

Sharing a famous name

ATLANTA — Martin Luther King Jr. is used to the puzzled looks from people when they learn his name.

The white, long-haired graphics designer and children’s book author goes by “Marty” to maintain his anonymity in the suburbs of Atlanta, where the man who made the moniker famous once lived.

His name is just a coincidence, but it made Marty King pay attention to the civil rights movement while growing up in a small Tennessee town during the 1960s.

“In East Tennessee, he may not have had a lot of fans, but there were some people who agreed with him,” he said. “I liked his speeches. ... He was only asking for what he was due, but the way he did it commanded respect. He earned my parents’ respect.”

Marty King, 53, was named for his father, who was named for the German monk and theologian Martin Luther, founder of the Protestant Reformation in the early 1500s.

It’s not the only famous name in his family. Marty King’s grandfather was named Abraham Lincoln.

Ex-Chicago mayor dies

CHICAGO — Former Chicago Mayor Eugene Sawyer, a soft-spoken leader who helped smooth a tumultuous city council, died late Saturday. He was 73.

Known for his calm manner and ability to forge comprise, Sawyer rose to prominence in the days after Harold Washington’s death in November 1987. After a bitter debate, a split council voted to name Sawyer as Washington’s replacement. He served as mayor until 1989, when he lost a special election to current Mayor Richard M. Daley.

John Sawyer said his brother had been in poor health since December, following surgery for a perforated esophagus. He suffered a series of strokes over the past month, and fell into cardiac arrest Friday morning, his brother, John Sawyer, said. He was taken to Hinsdale Hospital, where he died.

Combined dispatches