Astronaut, father-to-be awed by 1st spacewalk

Astronaut, father-to-be awed by 1st spacewalk

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A spacewalking astronaut put aside the impending birth of his daughter and concentrated instead on his first venture outside the International Space Station on Saturday.

Atlantis crewman Randolph Bresnik was mightily impressed as he installed a pair of antennas.

“Other than seeing my wife for the first time, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more beautiful face,” Bresnik said, gazing down at Earth 220 miles below. “This is amazing.”

Bresnik’s wife, Rebecca, was back home in Houston, due to give birth to their second child at any moment. They also have a 3-year-old son, adopted from Ukraine.

The delivery had been planned for Friday, but the baby had yet to arrive when the second spacewalk of the weeklong mission started Saturday morning. The astronauts agreed with Mission Control to hold off on any news if the birth occurred during the spacewalk.

Italian police arrest 2 in Mumbai attacks

ROME — Italian police on Saturday arrested a Pakistani father and son who purportedly spent just over $200 to set up a reliable and untraceable phone network that was used by the militants who carried out last year’s terror attacks in Mumbai, India.

The two were arrested in an early-morning raid in Brescia, where they ran a money-transfer agency, and it is was not immediately clear if they were aware of the purpose their funds had served, police in the northern Italian city said.

The day before the attacks began, they purportedly used a stolen identity to send money to a U.S. company to pay for Internet phone accounts used by the attackers and their handlers, said Stefano Fonsi, the head of anti- error police in Brescia.

Luxury hotel attacked

KABUL — Suspected insurgents fired a rocket Saturday at a luxury hotel that had come under attack before, injuring two people and rekindling fears that foreigners are being targeted in the capital.

The projectile hit just outside the perimeter wall of the hotel, where a number of foreign humanitarian workers, forced to relocate after a deadly strike on a U.N. guesthouse last month, have been staying in recent weeks.

The Serena, Afghanistan’s only five-star hotel, was the scene of a major attack in January last year, when it was stormed by gunmen and suicide bombers in a coordinated assault that killed seven people. Security was tightened in the wake of that strike, and the hotel resembles a fortress.

Bidder to pay $420,000 for Jackson’s white glove

NEW YORK — The shimmering, white glove Michael Jackson wore when he premiered his trademark moonwalk dance in 1983 was auctioned off for $350,000 — plus tax — Saturday.

Winning bidder Hoffman Ma of Hong Kong will pay $420,000, including taxes and fees, for the rhinestone-studded, modified golf glove Jackson wore on his left hand for his moonwalk on Motown’s 25th anniversary TV special.

The glove was the top item in a collection of Jackson memorabilia on the block at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square. Its pre-auction estimate was $40,000 to $60,000.

4 hospitalized after cable-car accident

SAN FRANCISCO — Authorities say four people were hurt when one of San Francisco’s historic cable cars jarred to a sudden stop while traveling through downtown.

Municipal Transportation Agency spokesman Judson True says two passengers, the cable car’s gripman and conductor were hospitalized Saturday after the accident. Their injuries are not life-threatening.

The cable car on the Powell Street line came to a quick halt after a problem with an underground cable forced central control to shut the system down automatically.

Police: Robbery suspect may have eaten evidence

STREETSBORO, Ohio — Police say a bank robbery suspect in Ohio may have eaten evidence when he gobbled a piece of paper while handcuffed and lying across the hood of a police car.

A police video camera captured 35-year-old John Ford of Cleveland grabbing the paper with his mouth as police emptied his pockets.

Ford was arrested after a report of a bank robbery in Streetsboro just south of Cleveland on Thursday.

Police say they found money in a bag in Ford’s car, which fit the description of the bank robber’s vehicle, along with a bank dye pack that had exploded.

Ford was being held in the Portage County Jail on Saturday.

Combined dispatches