Mandela turns 95

Mandela turns 95

JOHANNESBURG

Hospital visitors say Nelson Mandela smiled and nodded Thursday — his 95th birthday — and South Africans celebrated upbeat reports about the former president’s health after weeks of worrying that he was on the verge of death.

Children sang “Happy Birthday” at school assemblies nationwide, and many honored the man known as “the father of the nation” by performing acts of charity for 67 minutes, symbolizing Mandela’s 67 years of public service. World leaders praised the anti- apartheid leader’s life of sacrifice and vision.

McCain plans to block nomination

WASHINGTON

Sen. John McCain said Thursday he will block Army Gen. Martin Dempsey’s nomination for a second term as Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman due to his dissatisfaction with the officer’s responses to questions about the potential use of U.S. military power in Syria.

McCain, R-Ariz., pressed Dempsey during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee to provide his personal opinion on which approach in Syria carries greater risk for U.S. national security interests: continued limited action on the part of Washington, or more significant steps such as establishment of a no-fly zone and arming rebel forces with the weapons they need to stem the advance of President Bashar Assad’s forces.

Dempsey said he has provided President Barack Obama with options for the use of military force, but he declined to detail those choices.

Panama holds ex-CIA officer

PANAMA CITY

A former CIA base chief convicted in the 2003 abduction of a terror suspect from an Italian street has been detained in Panama after Italy requested his arrest in one of the most notorious episodes of the U.S. program known as extraordinary rendition, Italian and Panamanian officials said Thursday.

Robert Seldon Lady, the former CIA chief in Milan, entered Panama, crossed the border into Costa Rica and was sent back to Panama where he was detained, according to an Italian official familiar with Italy’s investigation of the rendition of Cleric Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the case.

UM OKs immigrants for in-state tuition

ANN ARBOR, Mich.

The University of Michigan on Thursday decided to let immigrants living in the country illegally pay lower, in-state tuition, a victory for activists who said one of the nation’s most prestigious schools is financially out of a reach for high school graduates living in the state without legal permission.

The move applies to the flagship Ann Arbor campus and satellites in Flint and Dearborn and joins Michigan with other top public colleges such as the University of Texas and the University of California, where students qualify for in-state tuition if they went to state high schools regardless of citizenship status.

Rabbi faces charges of impersonation

MAMARONECK, N.Y.

In the space of about 19 hours ending Thursday, a rabbi from the New York suburbs was arrested or arraigned on three separate charges of impersonating a police officer.

In each case, Rabbi Alfredo Borodowski was angered when other motorists drove too slowly or cut him off, police say. So he purportedly flashed a phony badge and tried to get them to pull over.

Associated Press