A New York mobster has confessed to killing a man by shooting him in the back because he heckled a woman singer and swore at him in an Italian restaurant, according to court documents. Luchese crime family associate Louis Barone pleaded not guilty in Manhattan Supreme Court to second degree murder, but prosecutors released his written confession to the Dec. 22 crime. "I had blood in my eyes," Barone wrote. "I was about three or four feet from the guy when I shot him in the back," Barone, 67, said. "The guy fell down face first near the doorway to the kitchen...I fired another shot at him. I snapped at that point. I went ballistic." Police said Broadway chanteuse Rena Strober was singing Don't Rain on My Parade at Rao's, an East Harlem restaurant when a patron, Albert Circelli, criticized her performance.
■ United Kingdom
Bogus superspy on trial
A British barman accused of posing as a superspy to swindle more than US$1 million from six victims in an elaborate decade-long con game has gone on trial, charged with kidnapping, beatings, threats, deception and theft. Prosecutors said Robert Hendy-Freegard persuaded his victims to give him cash to fund an underground life after convincing them he was a secret police agent or spy and they were his contacts whose cover had been blown. He bought fancy cars and clothes while his victims lived lives of tramps, prosecutors said. They said Freegard beat some of the victims in fake spy training tests before telling them their cover had been blown and they had to go into hiding. A male student gave him ?390,000 (US$722,500). A female student gave him
?200,000, and another bore two of his children during the scam.
■ Italy
PM's album a flop
A collection of love songs written by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi failed to make it into the top 75 albums of 2003 in his homeland, figures revealed on Monday. The album, Meglio 'na Canzone (A
song is better), features Berlusconi lyrics sung by Neapolitan singer Mariano Apicella. According to a report published in the Naples local daily Il Mattino, the CD has also sold poorly in Apicella's home town.
■ European Union
Rights group warns EU
The EU must improve human rights in its member states as it expands to the former communist countries of eastern Europe, Amnesty International warned on Monday. Amnesty told Ireland, which took over the union's rotating presidency on Jan. 1, that only two of the 15 current member states -- Luxembourg and the Netherlands -- could be given a clean bill of health. Abuses were occurring in the name of the "war on terror" and the fight against illegal immigration, Amnesty said.
■ Swaziland
King wants 11 new palaces
He did not get a private jet, but King Mswati III has found another way to drain Swaziland's treasury: a palace for each of his 11 wives. Sub-saharan Africa's last absolute monarch has reportedly asked his government for ?8 million (US$14.8 million) to redecorate three royal palaces and build 11 new ones -- a big sum for a tiny country reeling from drought, food shortages and HIV-AIDS. Most of the wives share a single palace and occupy guest houses, but before he marries again the king has decided to give each spouse her own home.
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