Novelist injured in fall

Novelist injured in fall

PARK RIDGE, Ill. — The Rev. Andrew Greeley is in critical condition at a Chicago-area hospital after falling and fracturing his skull.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported Saturday that the 80-year-old Catholic priest and best-selling novelist is stable at a hospital in Park Ridge.

Greeley’s family says he snagged his jacket in the door of a taxicab Friday afternoon and fell. Friends say he suffered bleeding on the brain.

Greeley has written more than 50 novels, many of them international mystery thrillers. He writes a column for the Sun-Times that explores the relationship between religion and politics.

Priest: Father taught son how to use guns

ST. JOHNS, Ariz. — A man who police believe was shot and killed by his 8-year-old son had consulted a Roman Catholic priest about whether the boy should have a gun and had taught him how to use firearms, the clergyman said Saturday.

The Very Rev. John Paul Sauter said the father, Vincent Romero, 29, wanted his son to learn how to hunt, while the boy’s stepmother, Tiffany, suggested he have a BB gun.

Police say the boy used a 22.-caliber rifle Wednesday to kill his father and another man, Timothy Romans, 39, of San Carlos.

Romero was an avid hunter who taught his son how to use a rifle to kill prairie dogs, said Sauter, of St. Johns Catholic Church.

“He wanted to make sure the kid wasn’t afraid of guns, knew how to handle it,” the priest said. “He was just too young. ... That child, I don’t think he knows what he did, and it was brutal.”

The boy, who faces two counts of premeditated murder, did not act on the spur of the moment, St. Johns Police Chief Roy Melnick said.

“I’m not accusing anybody of anything at this point,” he said Saturday. “But we’re certainly going to look at the abuse part of this. He’s 8 years old. He just doesn’t decide one day that he’s going to shoot his father and shoot his father’s friend for no reason. Something led up to this.”

Bin Laden’s son under investigation in Egypt

CAIRO, Egypt — The son of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was questioned at the Cairo airport by Egyptian officials Saturday after his application for asylum in Spain was rejected, said an airport security official.

Omar Osama bin Laden sought asylum in Spain, claiming he would not be safe if returned to an Arab country. Spain said his application did not meet its requirements. Bin Laden, 27, and his wife were then sent back to Egypt, where they have lived for the past year.

Egyptian officials said they were opening an investigation to determine what prompted the couple to seek political asylum in Spain.

The Egyptian airport official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said a decision had not yet been made to allow them into the country.

Indonesia executes 3 in nightclub bombings

CILACAP, Indonesia — Indonesia executed three Islamic militants Saturday for helping plan and carry out the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, many of them foreign tourists.

Imam Samudra, 38, and brothers Amrozi Nurhasyim, 47, and Ali Ghufron, 48, were executed several miles from their high security prison on Nusakambangan island, said Qadar Faisal, one of their attorneys.

Their bodies will be taken by helicopter to their home villages for burial, he said.

The Oct. 12, 2002, twin nightclub attacks — allegedly funded by al-Qaida and carried out by members of the Southeast Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiyah — thrust the world’s most populous Muslim nation onto the front lines in the war on terror.

Hamas militants exchange gunfire with Israeli army

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Israeli army and Hamas militants say their forces traded fire on Gaza’s border, testing a shaky truce in place since June.

The gunbattle between Israeli forces and Hamas gunmen took place Saturday morning on Gaza’s eastern border.

The Israeli army says its soldiers were detonating two explosive devices on the border fence when Hamas gunmen opened fire, prompting the exchange. There were no reports of casualties.

The gunbattle is the latest test to a five-month-old Egyptian-mediated truce between Israel and Palestinian militants.

The truce was shaken earlier this week after an Israeli incursion, clashes and airstrikes left seven Palestinian militants dead.

Associated Press