INTERNATIONAL
Premier Silvio Berlusconi: Better to love beautiful girls than gays
ROME (AP) — Premier Silvio Berlusconi dismissed calls Tuesday to resign over his involvement with an underage Moroccan runaway — and even created a new uproar by claiming it was better to love beautiful girls than gays.
His comments sparked outrage from gay rights groups and fueled new calls for him to step down.
10-year-old girl gives birth to baby in Spain; no criminal investigation
MADRID (AP) — A 10-year-old girl has given birth in southern Spain and authorities are evaluating whether to let her and her family retain custody of the baby, an official said Tuesday.
The baby was born last week in the city of Jerez de la Frontera, said Micaela Navarro, the Andalusia region’s social affairs minister.
Navarro told reporters the father of the baby is also a minor, and both the mother and the baby were in good health. Her department declined to give details, including the sex of the baby, but said authorities do not consider this a case of rape and that no criminal investigation is under way.
Sydney’s premier zoo celebrates birth of first Asian female elephant
SYDNEY (AP) — Sydney’s premier zoo is celebrating the birth of its first female Asian elephant — a 270-pound (120 kilogram) calf that is doing well.
Taronga Zoo director Cameron Kerr said in a statement that the birth Tuesday means that Australia now has a dozen of the endangered animals in zoos in Sydney and Melbourne, after initially receiving eight from Thailand in 2006.
The newborn, which has yet to be named, is the third born in the Sydney zoo and the first female.
The zoo says the calf was suckling within two hours of birth and walking unassisted within three hours.
NATIONAL
Michigan woman sells handwritten letter by Obama for $7K to pay bills
DETROIT (AP) — Jennifer Cline said having President Barack Obama think enough about her family’s struggles to send a handwritten letter promising “things will keep getting better” was priceless — until she was offered $7,000 for the letter.
The 28-year-old mother of two from southern Michigan, who has been unemployed since losing her job as a pharmacy technician in 2007, decided selling the memento to a persistent autograph collector was a good way to put a dent in her family’s growing pile of bills.
“I needed to do what’s best for my family,” she said Tuesday, adding that she and her 30-year-old husband, Jason, remain staunch Obama supporters. “And this was best for my family.”
The couple plans to use about $3,000 to pay down mounting bills, many of which are related to two forms of skin cancer that Jennifer has battled into remission.
STATE/LOCAL
Caddo Parish Fire Chief’s Assoc. lifts burn ban after rain
SHREVEPORT (AP) — With the nearly four inches of rain received over the last 24-hours, the Caddo Parish Fire Chief’s Association has decided to lift a burn ban that has been in place for well over a month.
The State Fire Marshal’s office and other parishes will make their decisions later today as to whether to keep a burn ban in place.
The association tells KTBS-TV in Shreveport that the burn ban, which prohibited citizens and contractors from any type of outdoor burning, will be lifted immediately in Caddo. Should citizens wish to burn outdoors, they must notify their local fire departments.
Fire officials remind residents to always burn as far away from structures as possible, including homes, buildings and sheds, and to always have a water source available and/or a fire extinguisher as a precaution.
Bicyclist dies from injuries after hitting an 18-wheeler trailer
LAFAYETTE (AP) — Police said a 48-year-old Lafayette man has died from injuries he received after his bicycle struck an 18-wheeler trailer.
Lafayette police say Carl James Lindon died Monday morning. The crash occurred about 9 p.m. Sunday.
The Advocate reports the driver of the 18-wheeler told police that Lindon’s bicycle rolled into the roadway and collided with his trailer.
Judge convicts Darrow man of manslaughter in a fatal shooting
DONALDSONVILLE (AP) — A state district judge in Ascension Parish has convicted a Darrow man of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of his co-worker outside a Burnside grocery store almost two years ago.
Prosecutors tell The Advocate that Judge Robert J. Klees took less than 30 minutes after a two-day bench trial last week to convict 43-year-old Renaldo Claiborne.