Gaza demonstrators condemn Osama bin Laden’s death in rallies
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Some two dozen Palestinians gathered in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday to pay tribute to slain al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
About 25 people holding pictures and posters of bin Laden rallied outside a Gaza City university. The crowd included al-Qaida sympathizers as well as students who said they opposed bin Laden’s ideology but were angry at the U.S. for killing him and consider him a martyr.
Scientologists say Russia lifts ban on the organization’s publications
MOSCOW (AP) — The Church of Scientology says Russian authorities have lifted a ban on some of its publications.
A statement on the website of the organization’s Russian branch says 29 books and lectures by the movement’s founder L. Ron Hubbard were banned in late April after a court in the Siberian city of Surgut found them “extremist.”
Ministry officials refused immediate comment, but an online list of extremist literature did not mention Scientology materials Tuesday evening.
UN experts: World population to reach 10.1 billion by 2100
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The number of the world’s people is expected to grow from nearly 6.9 billion currently to 9.3 billion by 2050 and 10.1 billion by 2100, U.N. population experts said Tuesday.
The projections are used by the U.N. and its many agencies to devise and fund programs for world problems. The U.N. said in a report on world trends released Tuesday that global population is expected to officially hit 6.9 billion on July 1 and 7 billion on Oct. 31.
W.Va. man accused of killing neighbor’s goat while high on salts
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia man found wearing women’s underwear and standing over a goat’s carcass told police he was high on bath salts.
Mark L. Thompson of Alum Creek was arrested at his home Monday. A criminal complaint charges the 19-year-old with cruelty to animals. Sheriff’s Deputy J.S. Shackelford says witnesses reported Thompson standing near a neighbor’s pygmy goat in a bedroom. He was wearing a bra and panties. The goat had at least one stab wound.
Mayor Bloomberg: Obama will be in NYC for 9/11 anniversary
NEW YORK (AP) — President Barack Obama will mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11 in New York City at the formal opening of the national memorial to the nearly 3,000 people who died in the terrorist attacks, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday.
“I certainly think it’s terribly important for him to come on 9/11/11. And he will be there. At least the staff has told me that he will come,” Bloomberg said at an unrelated City Hall news conference. “I think it’s perfectly appropriate for him to come.”
A spokesman for the White House wouldn’t confirm the mayor’s remarks Tuesday.
Ray Nagin will release memoir in June titled “Katrina’s Secrets”
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Ray Nagin, the mayor when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, is releasing his storm memoir in June.
He sent an e-mail and Twitter notes Tuesday about the book, titled “Katrina’s Secrets: Storms after the Storm.”
“Book release June 8. Year to complete. Discovered lot of truth missing from K experience,” his tweet read. “Our story is provacative (sic) & inspirational. Hidden secrets are finally revealed.”
Legislature proposes $89 million standstill budget for next fiscal year
(AP) — Even as cuts have been levied on departments across state government, Louisiana’s legislative leaders are proposing a standstill budget for the House, Senate and other legislative agencies next year.
An $89 million legislative budget was proposed Tuesday for the 2011-12 fiscal year that begins July 1, about the same amount allocated last year, before a round of midyear cuts and after several years of slashing to health services and education programs in other agencies.
House Speaker Jim Tucker and Senate President Joel Chaisson said they likely will recommend cutting the legislative agencies as the budget bill moves through the chambers. The leaders said they just haven’t decided what reduction they’ll offer and how it will compare to the level of cuts hitting other state programs.
 
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