WORLD DIGEST || Son of former shah of Iran found dead

Son of former shah of Iran found dead

BOSTON

The youngest son of the late shah of Iran was found dead Tuesday of an apparent suicide at his home in Boston, after he had “struggled for years to overcome his sorrow,” his brother said.

“It is with immense grief that we would like to inform our compatriots of the passing away of Prince Alireza Pahlavi,” the shah’s oldest son, Reza Pahlavi, wrote on his website in announcing the death.

Police would not confirm the man’s identity, but a law- enforcement official who was not authorized to release the man’s identity confirmed that the man was Alireza Pahlavi, 44.

Former Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic revolution. He fled Iran and wandered from country to country, ill with cancer, and eventually died in Egypt in 1980.

New Twain edition removes ‘N-word’

MONTGOMERY, Ala.

A new edition of Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “Tom Sawyer” plans to replace the N-word with “slave” in an effort not to offend readers.

Twain scholar Alan Gribben is working with New-South Books in Alabama to publish a combined volume of the books in February. He says the N-word appears 219 times in “Huck Finn” and four times in “Tom Sawyer.”

Gribben says he has used “slave” instead of the N-word at public readings and found audiences to be more accepting.

Other Twain scholars blasted his decision, and Gribben has received a flood of hateful e-mail accusing him of desecrating the novels.

Moderate Pakistani governor shot dead

ISLAMABAD

The governor of Pakistan’s most dominant province was shot and killed Tuesday by a bodyguard who authorities said was angry about his opposition to blasphemy laws carrying the death sentence for insulting the Muslim faith. Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer, regarded as a moderate voice in a country increasingly beset by zealotry, was a close ally of U.S.-backed President Asif Ali Zardari. He is the highest-profile Pakistani political figure to be assassinated since former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto three years ago.

Wis. archdiocese to file bankruptcy

MILWAUKEE

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee said Tuesday it would file for bankruptcy protection because pending sexual-abuse lawsuits could leave it with debts it couldn’t afford. A lawyer who filed many of those lawsuits, however, said he thought the archdiocese was using bankruptcy as a delay tactic to avoid opening its records to public scrutiny. Clergy sex abuse already has cost the Milwaukee archdiocese $29 million to address almost 200 claims over the past 20 years, Archbishop Jerome Listecki said. Bankruptcy protection will allow the church to continue its work while ensuring other victims receive the compensation they deserve, he said

Anti-Christian voices on Internet

CAIRO

In the weeks before the New Year’s Day suicide bombing of an Egyptian church, al-Qaida-linked websites carried a how-to manual on “destroying the cross,” complete with videos on how to build a bomb and the locations of churches to target — including the one that was attacked. They may have found a receptive audience in Alexandria, where increasingly radicalized Islamic hard-liners have been conducting weekly anti-Christian demonstrations, filled with venomous slogans against the minority community.

Associated Press