World digest | Rutgers pays tribute to suicide victim

Rutgers pays tribute to suicide victim

PISCATAWAY, N.J.

Rutgers University paid a public tribute Saturday at a football game to a student who committed suicide last week after his sexual encounter was secretly streamed online.

Prosecutors say 18-year-old freshman Tyler Clementi’s roommate and another student used a webcam to broadcast on the Internet live images of Clementi having an intimate encounter with another man.

Droopy newspapers to cost more to mail

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.

Even if a newspaper is filled with hard news, the U.S. Postal Service is checking to see whether it’s droopy.

Under a rule that takes effect today, if a flat piece of mail that’s longer than 10 inches droops too much, it will cost more to mail in bulk. The change is because such mail can’t be put through an automated flat sorter, and sorting by hand costs more.

That could affect many community newspapers. Magazines, envelopes and shopping circulars also come under the new rule.

Ecuador president: Unrest was coup try

QUITO, Ecuador

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa claimed that a police mutiny last week was an attempted coup with plans to assassinate him and other members of the government, local media reported Saturday.

The death toll in the unrest rose to eight with 278 injured, officials said.

Correa told foreign ministers from the South American diplomatic group Unasur who had traveled to Ecuador that the unrest included “conspirators that could not beat us at the ballot boxes and wanted to kill us.” He did not name those he held responsible, but three police officers have been arrested.

Palestinians back Abbas on building

RAMALLAH, West Bank

Dozens of senior members of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Fatah movement on Saturday backed President Mahmoud Abbas’ refusal to negotiate with Israel as long as it builds in West Bank settlements, dealing a new setback to troubled U.S. efforts to salvage peace talks.

The Obama administration has said it will keep pushing to find a solution to the impasse, and U.S. envoy George Mitchell is scrambling to enlist the help of Arab leaders to rescue the negotiations. The Palestinians’ final decision on whether to quit the talks is expected at an Arab League summit next weekend.

Obama touts clean energy in address

WASHINGTON

Wind, solar and other clean-energy technologies produce jobs and are essential for the country’s environment and economy, President Barack Obama said in promoting his administration’s efforts.

The president used his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday to charge Republicans with wanting to scrap incentives for such projects.

Republicans disputed Obama’s criticism, saying they support investments in renewable energy technologies.

Praise for tea party

NEW YORK

New York Gov. David Paterson, unlike many of his Democratic colleagues, says the tea-party movement is a good thing.

Paterson says most tea-party activists reject the extremist views of some members and that the movement as a whole is making important contributions to democracy.

Although Paterson prefers Democrat Andrew Cuomo over tea-party Republican Carl Paladino in the New York governor’s race, he says the movement is bringing people who are not interested in government back into the process.

Combined dispatches