Muslim minister Sembiring admits reluctant first lady handshake
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A conservative Muslim government minister admits he shook hands with first lady Michelle Obama in welcoming her to Indonesia but says it wasn’t his choice.
Footage on YouTube shows otherwise, sparking a debate that has lit up Facebook, Twitter and the rest of the blogosphere.
While Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world, the vast majority practice a moderate form of the faith. Tifatul Sembiring, though, has flaunted his conservatism and says he avoids contact with women who are not related to him.
Berlin marks 21 years since wall’s fall, renames public square in honor
BERLIN (AP) — Berlin has renamed a public square in honor of events 21 years ago, when the first wave of former East Germans demanded guards let them through to the West, triggering the collapse of the Berlin Wall.
Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit on Tuesday opened a new, permanent exhibit of pictures and plaques set against the backdrop of a stretch of the wall that divided Germany’s capital for 28 years. The memorial is part of the newly renamed “Nov. 9, 1989 Square.”
Dozens of people also laid roses at a different memorial along another stretch of the wall to honor the estimated 136 people who lost their lives trying to cross the barrier.
Hayward says BP was unprepared for oil spill and media frenzy
LONDON (AP) — Former BP PLC chief Tony Hayward has acknowledged that the company was unprepared for the disastrous Gulf of Mexico oil spill and the media frenzy it spawned, and he said the firm came close to financial disaster as its credit sources evaporated.
In an interview Tuesday, Hayward said the company’s contingency plans were inadequate and “we were making it up day to day.”
Elizabeth Smart testifies in captor’s trial about day she was rescued
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Elizabeth Smart says that on the day police finally found her, she lied to them about her identity out of fear her abductor would kill her.
Smart is testifying at the trial of Brian David Mitchell, who is accused of kidnapping her from her bedroom in 2002 and holding her captive for nine months.
She told jurors Tuesday that she told police she was Augustine Marshall, the daughter of traveling preachers.
Man dies of cancer weeks after being cleared in 1979 killing
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi man who spent more than 30 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit has died less than two months after his name was cleared in the case.
Bobby Ray Dixon died Sunday after suffering from lung and brain cancer. He was 53.
Jindal book criticizes Obama’s oil spill response, mum on ambitions
(AP) — Gov. Bobby Jindal calls the Obama administration “lackadaisical” in its Gulf oil spill response in his new book “Leadership and Crisis,” laying out his views on everything from health care to energy policy while keeping silent on whether he harbors presidential ambitions.
Criticism of Democratic President Barack Obama for the federal disaster opens Jindal’s 311-page book set for nationwide release next week as speculation turns to those Republicans who might challenge Obama in 2012.
Part autobiography, part conservative manifesto, the book charts the rise of the 39-year-old son of Indian immigrants to the Louisiana governorship but makes no hints whether he’ll run for the White House. But throughout the pages, Jindal describes his vision for the GOP on positions from federal spending to education and crisis management.
Suspect arrested in Marrero shooting that killed a teenager
GRETNA (AP) — A suspect in a shooting at a Marrero carnival that left a teenager dead and four others wounded has been arrested.
Jefferson Parish sheriff’s deputies say 19-year-old Sheldon Harper of Avondale was booked Tuesday with second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder charges.
Biodiesel plant producing fuel using chicken, beef and pork fat
GEISMAR (AP) — Chicken fat, beef tallow, pork lard and other animal oils are becoming diesel fuel at a new biofuels plant in Geismar.
Dynamic Fuels LLC is up and running, producing 2,500 barrels of diesel a day and growing, company officials reported Monday. The plant — a $160 million joint venture by Tyson Foods, of Springdale, Ark., and Syntroleum Corp., of Tulsa, Okla. — can produce up to 75 million gallons of biodiesel a year.
 
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