WORLD DIGEST || John Edwards sex tape to be destroyed

John Edwards sex tape to be destroyed

RALEIGH, N.C.

The purported sex tape of former presidential candidate John Edwards and his mistress will be destroyed within 30 days after a lawsuit over who owned the tape was settled Thursday.

Rielle Hunter sued former Edwards aide Andrew Young and his wife in 2010 over the tape and other personal items the couple said she left in a box of trash while they were helping her hide out as the former North Carolina senator ran for the White House.

In the settlement, the Youngs agreed to give up their claim on the tape and other property, which has been held in the vault of a North Carolina courthouse. Hunter long has wanted the tape destroyed.

Ultimatum to Assad

LONDON

The U.S., Europe and Arab nations crafted a stern warning Thursday to Syrian President Bashar Assad: Agree to an immediate cease-fire and allow humanitarian aid into areas hardest hit by his regime’s brutal crackdown on opponents or face as-yet unspecified punishments.

U.S., European and Arab officials met in London to work out details of an ultimatum to Assad. Diplomats said it would demand immediate compliance or result in additional punitive measures, likely to include toughened sanctions. The ultimatum is to be presented at a major international conference on Syria set for today in Tunisia.

Claim: Mormons baptized Anne Frank

SALT LAKE CITY

A new claim has surfaced that the Mormon church has posthumously baptized a Holocaust victim, this time Anne Frank.

The allegations come just a week after The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints apologized when it was brought to light that the parents of Holocaust survivor and Jewish-rights advocate Simon Wiesenthal were posthumously baptized by church members at temples in Arizona and Utah in January.

Researcher Helen Radkey, a former Mormon who revealed the Wiesenthal baptisms, said this week she found Frank’s name in proxy baptism records dated Feb. 18, showing the ritual was performed in the Santo Domingo Temple in the Dominican Republic.

“The Church keeps its word and is absolutely firm in its commitment to not accept the names of Holocaust victims for proxy baptism,” the Salt Lake City-based church said.

Boy, 9, in court in accidental shooting

PORT ORCHARD, Wash.

Crying and wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, a frightened 9-year-old boy accused of accidentally shooting a classmate sat before a juvenile-court judge Thursday as his father gently rubbed his back.

Bail was set at $50,000 during the preliminary hearing, and ultimately, the court will determine whether the third-grader will face criminal charges as an 8-year-old girl remains critically wounded.

Authorities say the boy brought a .45-caliber handgun he got from his mother’s house to an elementary school in Bremerton on Wednesday, and the weapon discharged from inside his backpack just before classes let out, critically injuring Amina Kocer-Bowman.

Anti-fraud effort comes up short

WASHINGTON

Launched last summer, a $77 million computer system to stop Medicare fraud before it happens had prevented just one suspicious payment by Christmas. That saved taxpayers exactly $7,591.

Lawmakers had expected the system finally to allow Medicare to stanch a $60 billion-a-year fraud hemorrhage. Now they’re worried that cautious bureaucrats lacking a clear game plan will compromise its performance.

Associated Press