INTERNATIONAL
 
13 nations sign declaration aimed at saving tigers from extinction
 
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Officials from the 13 countries where tigers live in the wild signed a declaration Tuesday aimed at saving the iconic big cats from extinction.
 
The new accord stipulates that the nations will strive to double the tiger population by 2022, crack down on poaching and illicit trade in tiger pelts and body parts.
 
Tigers once roamed most of Eurasia from the Tigris River to Siberia and Indonesia.
 
But in the past century, the number of countries that are home to tigers has dropped to 13 from 25, while three of the nine tiger subspecies have become extinct.
Experts say there are now only about 3,200 tigers left in the wild.
 
The nations — most of which are in Southeast Asia — agreed to preserve and enhance tigers’ habitats and involve local communities in their conservation efforts.
 
“The goal is difficult, but achievable,” Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told the participants of the “Tiger Summit” in St. Petersburg. Russia’s Far East is home to Siberian tigers, the largest tiger subspecies.
 
Putin has bolstered his image by posing with a cuddly cub and placing a tracking collar on a full-grown female.
 
Pope Benedict XVI shifts position on condoms, HIV and conception
 
 
VATICAN CITY (AP) — In a seismic shift on one of the most profound — and profoundly contentious — Roman Catholic teachings, the Vatican said Tuesday that condoms are the lesser of two evils when used to curb the spread of AIDS, even if their use prevents a pregnancy.
 
The position was an acknowledgment that the church’s long-held anti-birth control stance against condoms doesn’t justify putting lives at risk.
 
 
NATIONAL
 
Texas priest accused of trying to solicit hit man to kill teenager
 
 
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — In a murder-for-hire case worthy of a Dan Brown novel, a Roman Catholic priest has been arrested on charges that he solicited a hit man to kill a teenager who had accused him of sexual abuse.
 
Authorities said John Fiala first offered the job to a neighbor, who blew the whistle and helped police arrange a sting. They said Fiala got as far as negotiating a
$5,000 price for the slaying before investigators moved in.
 
The 52-year-old clergyman was arrested Nov. 18 at his suburban Dallas home and jailed on $700,000 bond. In April, he was named in a lawsuit filed by the boy’s family, who accused Fiala of molesting the youth, including twice forcing him to have sex at gunpoint.
 
The abuse allegedly took place in when Fiala was a priest at the Sacred Heart of Mary Parish.
 
 
STATE/LOCAL
 
Protesters rally Tuesday against closure of Melville area ferry
 
 
(AP) — About 50 people who use the Melville ferry that transports drivers from St. Landry to Pointe Coupee parishes rallied at the State Capitol on Tuesday to protest the ferry’s closure.
 
The service across the Atchafalaya River is scheduled to end Dec. 31.
 
Department of Transportation and Development officials say the Melville ferry is used less and is more expensive per vehicle than other state ferries. DOTD calculates the savings from closing the ferry at $720,000 a year, saying the department pays $200 per vehicle per round trip.
 
Protesters on Tuesday wore orange shirts that said “Save our Ferry” and said they wanted to speak to the governor about the closure. Among them were farmers who said they use the ferry to tend to their crops and livestock on both sides of the river.
 
DNA matches from La. rapes in 1992, ‘93 lead to indictment
 
 
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans police and prosecutors say DNA matches have brought indictment against two men in separate rapes, one in 1993 and the other in 1992.
 
The Times-Picayune reports that 48-year-old John Alexcee Jr. was indicted last week on charges of aggravated rape and kidnapping against a woman who was attacked by a man who stopped her by shooting through a car window.
 
Derrick Woodberry, 36, is charged with aggravated rape and aggravated kidnapping in an April 1992 assault of a woman who said she was robbed and raped by two men in New Orleans East.
 
Both DNA analyses were among 400 recently run through a federal database in order to clear a backlog.
 
Court records show that Woodberry’s DNA was matched in June, and Alexcee’s in 2006.
 
 
 
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