■UNITED STATES
No regrets: Yettaw
American John Yettaw said on Wednesday he had no regrets about taking a secret swim to the home of Myanmar’s detained democracy leader — a decision that landed them both in prison — and indicated that he still believed his bizarre visit somehow saved her from being assassinated. “If I had to do it again, I would do it a hundred times, a hundred times, to save her life,” an exhausted-looking Yettaw said of Aung San Suu Kyi in an interview after arriving in the US on Wednesday. He added: “That they locked her up, it just breaks my heart.” Yettaw, 53, has testified that he swam to the Nobel Laureate’s house in May to warn her that he had a “vision” that she would be assassinated.
■BRAZIL
Silva may run for president
Former environment minister Marina Silva, a rainforest champion, gave a strong signal on Wednesday of her intention to run for president when she resigned from the ruling party and berated the nation’s leaders for pursuing material wealth at the expense of the natural world. Speculation has been growing for weeks that Silva, who resigned from the government in May after a dispute over the development of the Amazon region, would defect to the Green party in order to contest the presidential elections next year. Speaking at a press conference in Brasilia, Silva, who has been a Workers’ party member for more than 30 years, said politicians had failed to give sufficient attention to the environment.
■BRAZIL
Priest accused of abuse
An Italian priest who ran an award-winning shelter for homeless children in Brazil has been charged with sexually abusing boys for years and allowing visiting foreigners to exploit the children, prosecutors said on Wednesday. Father Clodoveo Piazza, now working as a missionary in Mozambique, was charged along with another former director of the nonprofit group Fraternal Help Organization, a private group based in Salvador. Lidivaldo Britto, chief prosecutor for Bahia state in Brazil, said at least 10 boys were sexually abused over several years while Piazza ran the group. Roman Catholic Church officials in Brazil confirmed that Piazza was a priest but declined to comment on the case.
■UNITED STATES
Burglar targets cop station
A brazen burglar picked the wrong place to target: a police station. Police Chief Steve Scibelli said it was pretty embarrassing to have a thief hit his downtown station last week, stealing a radio, two stun guns and a Crown Victoria patrol car. The one saving grace was that police made a quick arrest. “I’m so upset about it, I can’t even find any humor in it,” Scibelli told the Register-Guard newspaper. “It’s pretty embarrassing.” Robert Lloyd Finder, 26, remained in the Coos County Jail on Wednesday, facing multiple charges.
■ARGENTINA
Man gets 20 years for fire
A music promoter was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Wednesday after being found responsible for a 2004 fire that swept through his crowded discotheque, killing 194 people. Omar Chaban, 57, received the heaviest sentence for arson, but lesser prison terms were handed out to four other people implicated in the fire, which broke out when spectators ignited fireworks during a packed concert. Some 3,000 fans had squeezed into Cromagnon Republic nightclub on December 30, 2004, for a performance of the rock group Callejeros, but many were trapped inside because the the main exit doors had been locked.
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