A man has been charged with the 1990 slaying of his former wife after his adult daughter told police that he confessed to killing her, authorities in Crown Point, Indiana, said. Prosecutors on Friday charged Rodney Boesel, 51, with murder in the death of Donna Boesel, then 22, said Lake County Sheriff Rogelio "Roy" Dominguez. Authorities said the confession came as Alicia Boesel, 19, was looking at a machete in his home on Wednesday. After five hours of questioning, Dominguez told detectives he had killed his wife, but did not use a knife, authorities said.
■ United States
Koreans denounce publisher
Korean-American community leaders said they plan to launch a protest against the publisher of a popular South Korean comic book that contains anti-Semitic images. One comic strip in the book shows a man climbing a hill and then facing a brick wall with a Star of David and "STOP" sign in front. "The final obstacle to success is always a fortress called Jews," a translation says. Another strip shows a newspaper, magazine, TV and radio with the description: "In a word, American public debate belongs to the Jews, and it's no exaggeration to say that US media are the voice of the Jews."
■ United States
Cheney's plane has problem
Vice President Dick Cheney's plane experienced a minor mechanical problem but was making a refueling stop in Singapore as planned yesterday, the White House said. Australian Prime Minister John Howard had said earlier that he had received a report that Cheney's plane was being diverted after it took off from Sydney, but that he did not have any details. A White House spokeswoman confirmed late on Saturday that the plane experienced a minor mechanical problem, but said it was not diverted. Instead, she said it was making a previously scheduled refueling stop in Singapore after leaving Sydney at about 5pm.
■ United States
Brown U addresses slavery
Brown University promised to raise US$10 million for local public schools and give free tuition to graduate students who pledge to work there in response to a report that found slave labor played a role in the university's beginnings. The university will also explore creating an academic center on slavery and justice, strengthen its Africana Studies Department, begin planning for a slavery memorial and revise its official history to provide a more accurate account of the school's early years. The report was issued last fall by a committee that was instructed in 2003 to study the university's early relationship with slavery and recommend how the school should take responsibility.
■ United States
Memorial to be rebuilt
A US$52 million project is planned to renovate and rebuild the USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center in Honolulu, which commemorates the 1941 Japanese attack on Hawaii's Pearl Harbor that thrust the US into World War II. The current center is on unstable ground and slowly sinking below the ocean water in the harbor. "We think it's got maybe the life of another five or six years and then it's got to go," said Jonathan Jarvis, regional director of the National Park Service. The Park Service plans to raise the money through private donations and hopes to reopen the center by Dec. 7, 2009, the 68th anniversary of the attack.
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