Baghdad bombing kills 4

Baghdad bombing kills 4

BAGHDAD — A car bomb exploded in an alley Saturday in a village in northern Iraq, killing at least four people, wounding others and destroying eight homes, police said. Another six people died in bombings in Baghdad.

Thirty-eight people were wounded, and several shops and cars were also damaged in the 3 p.m. explosion in the northern village of Kugjeli, according to a police officer in Ninevah Province, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists.

New Palin ethics complaint

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says she hopes the latest ethics complaint filed against her is a “wake-up call” that a new ethics policy is needed in the state.

“The only saving grace in this recent episode is that it proves beyond any doubt the significance of the problem Alaska faces in the ‘new normal’ of political discourse,” Palin said in a release that was posted online through her Twitter account.

The ethics complaint, filed Friday with the state personnel board, alleges that Palin has been paid for media interviews. Palin’s chief of staff, Mike Nizich, called the allegation absurd.

Carlos becomes hurricane

MIAMI — The National Hurricane Center says Carlos has become a hurricane swirling far off Mexico’s eastern Pacific coast.

The storm’s maximum sustained winds have increased to near 80 mph, and the center in Miami says the storm could further strengthen in the next 24 hours.

As of 5 p.m. EDT Saturday, Carlos was centered about 1,000 miles south-southwest of the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula. The storm is moving toward the west near 12 mph on a path taking it farther out to sea.

Families seek answers

ALSIP, Ill. — A constant stream of relatives hoping to find their loved ones showed up Saturday as officials exhumed one grave in a cemetery where four former employees are accused of digging up and dumping hundreds of bodies in a scheme to resell plots.

One body was found in the exhumed grave at the historic black cemetery, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said, despite an earlier report that two bodies were there. The former workers also have been accused of burying some bodies in shared graves.

Authorities closed Burr Oak Cemetery, home to the graves of civil rights-era lynching victim Emmett Till and blues singer Dinah Washington, on Friday and declared portions a crime scene. On Saturday, families carrying photos and old crumpled funeral programs stood in snaking lines to talk to officials.

Officials said they would try to respond to families in the next week, but Dart said the investigation was hampered by a lack of maps for large sections of the cemetery.

Leads in couple’s slaying

PENSACOLA, Fla. — Florida law-enforcement officials said Saturday that the people who killed a couple in their Panhandle home last week as their children slept appeared experienced.

Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said in a news conference that the department is questioning two persons of interest, but they are not in custody. He said tips from the public led to the discovery of a red van Saturday morning that was likely the same one used in the crime, and that helped authorities find the people they are questioning.

Byrd and Melanie Billings of Beulah, a rural area west of Pensacola near the Alabama border, were found shot dead in their home Thursday evening. They had 16 children, 12 of them adopted. Eight of the children, ages 8 to 14, were in the home when the couple was killed. Investigators interviewed the children, who are now staying with other family members.

Talks stall in Honduras

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Supporters of ousted President Manuel Zelaya paid tribute Saturday to a teenager killed during protests and expressed fear the interim government will drag out negotiations to resolve the crisis so it can remain in power through November elections.

But a delegate of de facto President Roberto Micheletti who participated in the talks in Costa Rica on Friday said his side has not ruled out the possibility of early elections as a way out of the conflict.

The only consensus reached between representatives of Zelaya and Micheletti during a second round of negotiations Friday was that they would meet again — fueling concern the crisis could continue for months. No date was set for future negotiations.

Associated Press