Tabloid’s last words

Tabloid’s last words

LONDON

Britain’s best-selling Sunday tabloid the News of the World signed off with a simple front page message — “THANK YOU & GOODBYE” — leaving the media establishment here reeling from the expanding phone-hacking scandal that brought down the muckraking newspaper after 168 years.

Journalists crafted the newspaper’s own obituary before sending the tabloid’s final edition to the printing presses Saturday night, apologizing for letting its readers down but stopping short of acknowledging recent allegations that staff paid police for information.

“We praised high standards, we demanded high standards but, as we are now only too painfully aware, for a period of a few years up to 2006 some who worked for us, or in our name, fell shamefully short of those standards,” read a message posted on the tabloid’s website.

Iraq veteran, ejected from coaster, dies

DARIEN, N.Y.

A U.S. Army veteran who lost both legs in Iraq and had been trying to rebuild his life was killed after he was thrown from a roller coaster at an upstate New York amusement park.

Teams of inspectors on Saturday were examining the Ride of Steel coaster at the Darien Lake Theme Park Resort, about 30 miles east of Buffalo.

Sgt. James Thomas Hackemer, 29, was ejected from the 208-foot-tall ride early Friday evening after climbing aboard during a family outing. Authorities and a park spokeswoman declined to say at what point in the ride the accident occurred.

The wounded veteran was missing all of his left leg and most of his right one, as well as part of a hip, and had only recently returned for good to his parents’ home in Gowanda following years in and out of rehabilitation at hospitals around the northeast U.S.

Birth of a nation

JUBA, South Sudan

On Saturday, the world officially welcomed the new country of South Sudan into the fold, promising support to the war-torn nation even while warning of perils ahead.

Tens of thousands of South Sudanese gathered to witness the independence day ceremonies and to celebrate the newly born state, chanting “We will never surrender” and “South Sudan oyee” in glee.

Youths cheered with intense patriotic fervor, while many older South Sudanese appeared introspective and overcome with emotion as world leaders recognized their homeland’s full sovereignty.

“For South Sudan, independence is not a gift you were given. Independence is a prize you have won,” said Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Malaise in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia

At least 20,000 Malaysians defied government warnings by marching for electoral reforms Saturday, as police fired tear gas and detained more than 1,600 in the country’s biggest political rally in four years.

The crackdown on the opposition-backed demonstration in Malaysia’s main city, Kuala Lumpur, triggered criticism that Prime Minister Najib Razak’s long-ruling coalition was unwilling to allow public dissent or make election laws fairer ahead of national polls widely expected by mid-2012.

Associated Press

declared the rally illegal and warned people repeatedly over the past month to avoid it. Officials insisted it was simply an opposition scheme to spark chaos and stir anti-government sentiment, while activists accused authorities of being afraid of a protest that could undermine their authority.