Pope admits ‘sins within the church’

Pope admits ‘sins within the church’

LISBON, Portugal

In his most thorough admission of the church’s guilt in the clerical sex-abuse scandal, Pope Benedict XVI said Tuesday the greatest persecution of the institution “is born from the sins within the church” and not from a campaign by outsiders.

The pontiff said the Catholic church always has been tormented by problems of its own making — a tendency that is being witnessed today “in a truly terrifying way.”

“The church needs to profoundly relearn penitence, accept purification, learn forgiveness but also justice,” he said.

Artist assaulted during lecture

STOCKHOLM

A Swedish artist who angered Muslims by depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a dog was assaulted Tuesday as furious protesters interrupted his university lecture about the limits of free speech.

Lars Vilks told The Associated Press a man leaped from the front row and head-butted him as he was delivering his lecture at Uppsala University, breaking Vilks’ glasses but leaving him uninjured.

Police later said the attacker was stopped before he could reach Vilks and that the artist may have bumped into plain-clothes officers who briskly evacuated him from the room. Three people were detained, but it wasn’t immediately clear whether the attacker was among them.

Biden’s son treated for mild stroke

PHILADELPHIA

Vice President Joe Biden’s older son, the Delaware attorney general, had a mild stroke Tuesday and was transferred to a Philadelphia hospital, where he was alert and talking with family.

Beau Biden, 41, had been admitted to Christiana Hospital in Newark, Del., on Tuesday morning. Later in the day he was transferred to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, vice presidential spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander said. The White House said earlier that he would undergo further observation and examination there.

Biden was expected to recover, his doctor said.

Walgreens to sell genetic-testing kits

CHICAGO

Walgreens on Tuesday said it will begin selling personal genetic-testing kits Friday, the first major retail chain in the U.S. to offer the home tests.

The Deerfield, Ill.-based drugstore chain has an agreement with Pathway, a startup that offers genetic health and ancestry reports.

But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration told the Chicago Tribune it is investigating claims made by the San Diego-based company and Walgreens in marketing its genetic test, which has not been approved by U.S. regulators.

Pakistani detained at US Embassy

SANTIAGO, Chile

Traces of explosives were found on a Pakistani man who was summoned to the U.S. Embassy because his U.S. visa had been revoked, authorities said Tuesday, and a Chilean judge ordered him held in a high-security prison under anti-terrorism laws.

Mohammed Saif-ur- Rehman Khan, 28, was detained Monday after the embassy’s detectors were set off by traces of bomb-making material, said Mario Schilling, a Chilean prosecutor’s spokesman. Schilling did not elaborate on what kind of explosives were involved or provide more details about the case.

U.S. Ambassador Paul Simon said there was indication the embassy was a target of any attack.

Combined dispatches