Nation & World Digest

EBay pulls listing for Kevorkian van

DETROIT

Online auction site eBay pulled a listing Monday for a van used by Dr. Jack Kevorkian to perform several assisted suicides, saying the sale of the van would violate the company’s policy against the sale of “murderabilia.”

Jack Finn, a retired used-auto-parts dealer, put the 1968 Volkswagen van once owned by Kevorkian up for auction on eBay last week.

Afghan forces tied to UN staffers’ deaths

UNITED NATIONS

A United Nations investigation has found that four U.N. staff members killed during a suicide attack in Kabul in October may have died because of friendly fire from Afghan security forces, U.N. officials said Monday.

A final report by a four-member outside panel suggested that four of the five staffers killed in the attack had been shot to death because they were mistaken for Taliban insurgents during the Oct. 28 incident.

Ohio man held

ASHEVILLE, N.C

An Ohio man who authorities say was carrying a gun and driving a car loaded with law-enforcement equipment when he said he wanted to see the president is a “public-service-minded” ham-radio, weather and police buff, acquaintances said Monday.

Joseph Sean McVey, who was spotted by police in an Asheville Regional Airport parking lot Sunday just after Air Force One departed, had a note in his car with formulas used for firing a rifle with a scope, authorities said.

McVey did not have a rifle with him, but the arrest was merited to ensure McVey was not a threat, said Jeff Augram, the airport’s public safety chief.

McVey, 23, whose mother lives in Asheville, was being held in lieu of a $100,000 secured bond for the misdemeanor charge of going armed in terror of the public.

16 food companies pledge to cut salt

NEW YORK

Sixteen food companies plan to cut the amount of salt in bacon, flavored rice and dozens of other products as part of a national effort to reduce Americans’ sodium consumption by 20 percent.

Companies including H.J. Heinz Co., Kraft Foods Inc. and Starbucks will commit to the voluntary National Salt Reduction Initiative, a partnership initiated by New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Monday.

Study: Chimps mourn like humans

LONDON

A study suggests chimpanzees react to the death of a group member just like humans behave when a close relative dies.

James Anderson, a lecturer in psychology at Scotland’s University of Stirling, says rare video footage of a group of chimpanzees at a Scottish wildlife park shows the animals stroking and grooming a dying female.

Anderson says the video also shows three chimpanzees testing the female, Pansy, for signs of life. Pansy’s daughter lay near her mother’s body throughout the night.

The study will be published today in Current Biology.

Charges dismissed

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti

A Haitian judge said Monday he has dismissed kidnapping and criminal-association charges against 10 American missionaries detained for trying to take a busload of children out of the country after the Jan. 12 earthquake.

Judge Bernard Saint-Vil said Laura Silsby, the last of the 10 missionaries jailed, still faced a lesser charge on allegations of organizing the effort to transport the 33 children to an orphanage they were setting up in the Dominican Republic.

Associated Press