LITTLE ROCK — Andr y Rajoelina, Madagascar’s militarybacked leader since March, unilaterally named a highranking officer, Col. Camille Albert Vital, prime minister after dismissing on Friday the premier chosen in a consensus agreement with his rivals in November.
Sen. John McCain, RAriz., told Fox News Sunday that he understands why his 2008 running mate, Sarah Palin, blacked out his name on a campaign visor so she could avoid recognition while on vacation in Hawaii, adding that he has no problem with the felt-marker redaction and that he and Palin remain close.
Felipe Rivera-Cruz, 51, was charged with second-degree murder after police say a 24-year-old man in a wheelchair was stabbed more than a dozen times with a folding knife and died after a dispute at an assisted-living residence on New York City’s Lower East Side.
Eric Navickas, a City Council member in Ashland, Ore., opposed to a proposed ban on public nudity in the town, plans a showing in his art gallery of nude portraits and conceptual art involving nudity at which patrons will be welcome to attend without clothing.
Barry Stern, 61, the former director of Long Island University’s Hillwood Art Museum, admitted to stealing nine ancient Egyptian artifacts and pocketing $32,000 from the sale of some of them, saying his actions were caused “by extreme anger” over the school mistreating him.
Jordan S. Christensen, 19, of Appleton, Wis., will need legal permission to date girls for the next three years after he was convicted of stealing his foster parents’ car and fleeing to Tennessee with his 16-yearold girlfriend.
Rhonda Kay Stewart, 54, was found guilty of firstdegree murder in the shooting death of her estranged husband, 56-year-old Sammy Stewart, while he was in intensive care at a Charleston, W.Va., hospital.
Gerard Vidal, 23, a door-to-door magazinesubscription salesman, was arrested on charges of home-invasion robbery and attempted rape after Los Angeles police say he sexually assaulted a 30-year-old woman who changed her mind about a purchase.
Aaron Ohm, a Taco Bell manager in Sandusky, Ohio, said a man who appeared to be drunk walked into the restaurant, handed him $72 for just one taco, refused to take back the money and told workers “Merry Christmas.”
Front Section, Pages 1 on 12/21/2009