Obama girls name their new puppy Bo

WASHINGTON — The first family has settled on a first pet — a 6-month-old Portuguese water dog that the Obama girls are naming Bo.

The selection was one of the White House’s most tightly kept secrets. President Barack Obama’s daughters, 10-year-old Malia and 7-year-old Sasha, picked a black and white pup.

The dog is a gift from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who owns several Portuguese water dogs himself.

The Washington Post reported in its online editions Saturday night that Obama’s daughters chose the name Bo for the pup because first lady Michelle Obama’s father was nicknamed Diddley. The name for the dog was an apparent reference to the singer “Bo” Diddley.

The president and first lady had said their choice was down to either a Portuguese water dog or a Labradoodle because they were considered good pets for children who have allergies, as Malia does.

Ex-Marines seeking to get charges dropped

SAN DIEGO — Former Marines are mounting a petition drive in the hope of persuading a general at Camp Pendleton to drop charges against a Marine sergeant accused of killing a prisoner during the battle in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004.

The Marine has admitted the killing and awaits court-martial on charges of unpremeditated murder and dereliction of duty.

The petition drive to have charges dropped against Sgt. Jermaine Nelson began after the acquittal Thursday of Sgt. Ryan Weemer on similar charges. In August, a civilian jury found former Sgt. Jose Luis Nazario innocent in the same case.

Nelson, Weemer and Nazario “voluntarily chose service to our nation and in return we will not abandon them to the equivalent of a witch hunt,” said William McNulty, secretary of the Marine Corps Intelligence Association, a group of former Marines.

Rioting unchecked in Thai capital

BANGKOK, Thailand — Swarms of anti-government demonstrators attacked the prime minister’s car, seized control of major intersections in the capital and commandeered buses, bringing new chaos to the Thai capital as the country’s ousted leader threatened to return from exile to lead a revolution.

The government declared a state of emergency Sunday but, without the intervention of security forces, it was unclear how any bans could be enforced.

The uncertain encounter — and others like it across Bangkok, where security forces stood by while protesters ran rampant — reinforced that three years of turmoil between alternating governments and protesters opposed to them seemed ready to peak again. As night fell, demonstrators demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva controlled many streets in the city center. Police vans at some intersections were abandoned and looted.

Pope tries to give hope to the suffering

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI sought to give a message of hope on Easter Sunday to victims of wars, poverty and financial turmoil, saying it was urgently needed to overcome the miseries that are plaguing Africa, the Middle East and other parts of the globe.

Benedict delivered his “Urbi et Orbi” message — Latin for “to the city and the world” — after celebrating Easter Mass before tens of thousands of people who packed St. Peter’s Square and the boulevard leading up to it.

In his speech, Benedict said hope was urgently needed around the globe, despite mounting reasons for despair.

“At a time of world food shortage, of financial turmoil, of old and new forms of poverty, of disturbing climate change, of violence and depravation which force many to leave their homelands in search of a less precarious form of existence, of the ever-present threat of terrorism, of growing fears over the future, it is urgent to rediscover grounds for hope,” he said.

Combined dispatches