■Iraq
Top officer captured
Coalition forces said on Saturday they had captured former Iraqi air force commander Hamid Raja Shalah al-Tikriti, who was No. 17 on the US Central Command's most-wanted list. A brief US military statement gave no other details about the arrest. The former commander, who is in his late 50s, is from Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit and was close to the ousted Iraqi president's family. He was one of the Iraqi military commanders seen meeting regularly with Saddam before the US-led war started March 20.
■ Ireland
Newspapers must improve
The newspaper industry must improve the quality of editorial content to rise above television if it is to halt a general decline in readership, the annual conference of the World Association of Newspapers heard in Dublin this week. Newspapers, for 200 years a reference point for news, analysis and comment, must avoid "contagion" by the quick, slick ways of television, the former chairman of Agence France-Presse, Henri Pigeat, told the conference. He was addressing the 56th annual gathering of the association, which drew more than 1,200 participants from 85 countries to debate the future of newspapers.
■ United States
Officer romances dozens
Through his lawyer, an army officer accused of proposing to dozens of women has apologized for his behavior, but at least one of his alleged victims say that's not enough. Colonel Kassem Saleh, stationed at Fort Bragg, is under investigation by the army over allegations that he simultaneously romanced dozens of women on the Internet and by phone and proposed to them. "He is sincerely apologetic," his lawyer told The New York Times Saturday. Robin Solod of New York, one of the women allegedly duped by Saleh, said of his apology: "It's too little too late. That's definitely not sufficient for the betrayal, the deceit. He stole my heart."
■ United States
Shootout at the saloon
In a scene reminiscent of the Wild West, a ranch hand shot seven people, killing one, outside the Silver Dollar Saloon, then wounded a sheriff's deputy and led other officers on a 160kph chase in a running gunfight before being captured, police said. Madison County Attorney Robert Zenker identified the suspect as George H. Davis, 44, and said the shootings began about 2:15am, shortly after Davis was asked to leave the Silver Dollar Saloon in Ennis. "He allegedly was intoxicated and acting obnoxious," Zenker said.
■ United States
Stop sex classes!
Federal health officials have warned an HIV/AIDS prevention program that its federal funding will be cut if it does not stop offering classes that "encourage or promote sexual activity." The US federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention specifically criticized the nonprofit Stop AIDS Project for a workshop that offers guidelines on "safe and friendly relations" with male prostitutes, another that discusses oral sex and a third entitled "Bootylicious" that provides tips for successful anal intercourse. Friday's warning came four months after the agency cleared Stop AIDS following a review prompted by complaints from Republican Representative Mark Souder about the sexually explicit nature of the program.
Agencies
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