■ UNITED STATES
Man breaks into Cage home
A tailor, Robert Dennis Furo, 45, has pleaded not guilty of residential burglary after a break-in at Nicolas Cage's coastal home on Tuesday. Cage called a security guard at his gated community around 1:30am on Monday after he saw a man wandering inside his home and wearing one of the actor's jackets, police Lieutenant Craig Fox said. Cage was upstairs with his wife and son, and reported seeing the man standing at the door of a bathroom. "He was standing there naked -- except for the leather jacket," Fox said. When officers arrived Cage had already asked the man to take off the jacket and escorted him outside "without struggle," Fox said.
■ UNITED STATES
Vigil held for torture victim
Holding candles and singing hymns, about 30 people gathered for a vigil at a church in Big Creek, West Virginia, for a black woman who allegedly was tortured for days by six whites in a trailer. The church is about 2km from the trailer where investigators say Megan Williams was sexually assaulted, beaten and forced to eat animal droppings. She was rescued on Sept. 8 by sheriff's deputies acting on an anonymous tip. A preliminary hearing for one suspect, 46-year-old Karen Burton, is set for Thursday. A grand jury will hear the cases against five of the suspects: 27-year-old George Messer, 24-year-old Bobby Brewster, 23-year-old Alisha Burton, 49-year-old Frankie Brewster and 20-year-old Danny Combs.
■ iraq
Polish ambassador attacked
Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said yesterday the nation would not withdraw a 1,000-strong troop contingent from Iraq after Poland's ambassador was injured in an attack on his convoy in Baghdad. "Desertion is always the worst option," Kaczynski told reporters. "This is a difficult situation, but those who became engaged and were there for years and then withdraw are making the worst possible mistake." Polish ambassador General Edward Pietrzyk was wounded and one of his bodyguards died when his diplomatic convoy came under attack in the Iraqi capital yesterday.
■ UNITED STATES
Spanking judge resigns
An Alabama judge has resigned amid investigations of possible judicial and sexual improprieties, including allegations that he spanked male inmates in a private courthouse room. Circuit Judge Herman Thomas had been suspended with pay since March when a state judicial panel filed the first of a series of charges accusing him of unduly helping relatives and friends with their legal troubles and changing defendants' legal status or sentences.
RSS