Sword fight proves fatal

Sword fight proves fatal

INDIANAPOLIS — A 77-year-old woman suffered a fatal stab wound while trying to break up a sword fight Thursday between her grandson and brother-in-law, police said.

An autopsy determined Franziska Stegbauer died of a wound from one of the swords, police Sgt. Matthew Mount said. Both men were hospitalized with stab wounds and one was critically hurt.

“We’re unsure yet who started this fight, how the swordplay got involved,” Mount said. “We’re not sure who it was who stabbed the woman. We’ll have to do some testing on the swords and figure out who had which sword, whose blood is on which sword.”

One of the weapons was a World War II-era Japanese officer’s sword with a thin blade, and the other had a thicker blade, Mount said.

Police placed Stegbauer’s grandson, 39-year-old Chris Rondeau, under arrest on a preliminary charge of attempted murder. Stegbauer’s brother-in-law, 69-year-old Adolf Stegbauer, suffered several serious stab wounds, police said.

First lady, kids sow garden

WASHINGTON — First lady Michelle Obama planted the first fruit and vegetable seedlings in the new White House garden Thursday, assisted by a group of eager fifth-graders who tend to a similar garden at their school.

An advocate of eating fresh and healthful food, she could be enjoying salads made with lettuce from the garden in about two weeks.

Spinach, assorted types of lettuce, herbs, onions, shallots, cucumbers and peas are among the crops planted Thursday. Tomatoes are to follow in about three weeks. Honey will come from a beehive a short distance away from the 1,100-square-foot, L-shaped plot on the South Lawn.

Shops reopen after quake

L’AQUILA, Italy — This quake-ravaged medieval city took a limping step toward normalcy Thursday as butchers, bakers and other shopkeepers reopened for business and firefighters began entering buildings to grab essential items for the homeless.

Three days after the quake that made the historic center uninhabitable and halted nearly all economic activity, the death toll reached 287, civil protection authorities said Thursday night. Police said the victims included 20 children and teens.

On yet another day punctuated by aftershocks, a particularly sharply felt tremor rocked the quake-stricken area at 9:38 p.m. The shaking lasted a minute and was felt in Rome, some 70 miles away from L’Aquila.

Iran hails nuclear projects

ESFAHAN, Iran — Iran announced fresh advances in its steady drive to master nuclear technology Thursday, trumpeting two new devices to enrich uranium and inaugurating a plant to produce fuel pellets for a heavy-water reactor.

State television broadcast a patriotic three-minute music video called “Fruits of Science” heralding technological achievements during the annual National Day of Nuclear Technology celebrations marking the date in 2006 when Iran produced its first batch of enriched uranium.

“We are witness to very important nuclear achievements,” President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Iranian officials and international guests at the launch of the nuclear fuel production plant in Esfahan.

Infant dies in day-care van

MILWAUKEE — A 4-month-old boy was found dead in a day-care center’s van Thursday, and its driver was arrested, Milwaukee police said.

The baby may have been left in the Bumble Bee Day Care Center van for about four hours before he was found Thursday afternoon, police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz said. How the baby died was not immediately known; the temperature in the area was in the 50s at the time.

Schwartz says the van’s 44-year-old driver was arrested on a tentative felony charge of leaving a child in a child-care vehicle unattended. His name was not immediately released.

Call for leader to resign

TBILISI, Georgia — Tens of thousands of demonstrators on Thursday demanded the resignation of President Mikhail Saakashvili, saying he had lost the right to lead Georgia after a humiliating war with Russia.

The peaceful demonstration outside parliament, which opposition leaders vowed would continue until Saakashvili stepped down, was reminiscent of the bloodless protests of the Rose Revolution that brought him to power five years ago. But it was far from clear whether the fragmented opposition had the necessary support to stage a similar revolt.

Another large rally was planned for today.

Combined dispatches