In the news

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Condoleezza Rice, a former secretary of state and adviser to President George W. Bush, has withdrawn her decision to deliver the commencement address at Rutgers University because of protests from students and professors objecting to her role in the Iraq War.

James Weldon Alton, 29, a Universal Orlando worker, was jailed on accusations that he exchanged sexual text messages and nude photographs with a 16-year old girl he met while he was playing Captain America at the Florida resort.

Ed Hermance, 73, plans to close Giovanni’s Room, a Philadelphia bookstore that is believed to be the nation’s oldest shop specializing in titles written by and for the gay, bisexual and transgender community, because the store is losing money to online discount booksellers.

Silvio Berlusconi, the 77-year-old former prime minister of Italy, will work with Alzheimer’s patients at a center in Cesano Bescone to satisfy a community-service requirement for his tax fraud conviction.

Michelle Lynn Smith, 36, a teacher at Calhoun County High School in Hardin, Ill., was jailed on a charge of conveying a false threat after being accused of leaving a letter at the school that said, “Kaboom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Im tired of all the people here. Everyone is going down, the school will b n flames.”

Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, said he will back former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton if she runs for president in 2016, because she has “backbone and scar tissue and wisdom and judgment - all of those things that you need in a leader.”

Joshua Hughes, 28, a former employee of Forever 21, confessed and apologized after he was confronted by police who suspected him of robbing one of the company’s Orlando stores while wearing a werewolf mask, according to an affidavit.

Alenka Bratusek, Slovenia’s prime minister, announced her resignation after losing the leadership of her Positive Slovenia party to Mayor Zoran Jankovic of Ljubljana.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 05/04/2014