POLITIC S

BELAFONTE CALLS BUSH ‘TERRORIST,’ PRAISES CHAVEZ IN VENEZUELA

The American singer and activist Harry Belafonte called President Bush “the greatest terrorist in the world” yesterday and said millions of Americans support the socialist revolution of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.

Mr. Belafonte led a delegation of Americans including the actor Danny Glover and the Princeton University scholar Cornel West that met the Venezuelan president for more than six hours late Saturday. Some in the group attended Mr. Chavez’s television and radio broadcast yesterday.

“No matter what the greatest tyrant in the world, the greatest terrorist in the world, George W. Bush says, we’re here to tell you: Not hundreds, not thousands, but millions of the American people …support your revolution,” Mr. Belafonte told Mr. Chavez during the broadcast.

– Associated Press

WEST

WILDFIRES FORCE EVACUATIONS IN SOUTHERN COLORADO

AGUILAR, Colo. – Wind-whipped wildfires destroyed at least five houses in southern Colorado and forced the evacuation of several hundred residents yesterday, authorities said.

Two fires had burned over 5,400 acres in Huerfano and Las Animas counties, not far from the New Mexico line. One of them had started as a controlled burn earlier in the week that flared up again despite efforts to keep it down.

Wind gusting up to 50 mph prevented authorities from using airplanes to drop slurry on the fires, said Pam Martinez of the Huerfano County Sheriff’s office.

– Associated Press

SOUTH

COURT REINSTATES $54 MILLION VERDICT AGAINST SALVADORAN GENERALS

MIAMI – A federal appeals court reinstated a $54.6 million verdict against two retired Salvadoran generals accused of torture during the civil war in their home country two decades ago.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta reversed its earlier decision to toss out the 2002 judgment against Generals Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova, 67, and Jose Guillermo Garcia, 72.

The appeals court ruled in February that a statute of limitations had expired before the generals were sued. The court said the three torture victims who filed the lawsuit failed to prove unfair circumstances prevented them from bringing their case forward before the 10-year statute expired.

But on Wednesday, the court said “extraordinary circumstances” did exist and the verdict should be reinstated. The original West Palm Beach jury found both men ignored massacres and other acts of brutality against civilians during the war. – Associated Press

SUSPECTS IN KILLINGS OF TWO FAMILIES MAY BE LINKED TO OTHER CRIMES

RICHMOND, Va.- Investigators are looking into whether two men arrested for the robbery and killings of seven people in their Richmond homes were involved in similar crimes elsewhere, a police spokeswoman said yesterday.

Ray Joseph Dandridge and Ricky Gray, both 28, were captured Saturday in Philadelphia on charges stemming from the killings of members of two families, including two children, who were discovered bound with tape. The home of one family was set on fire and the other was ransacked.

Authorities said police found evidence linking the pair to all seven murders.

After the arrests, the investigation widened.

“There’s other law enforcement agencies that are looking into any similarities with these cases,” a spokeswoman for Richmond police, Cynthia Price, said. “We know there was a home invasion in Chesterfield and they have been charged with that one.”

– Associated Press

WASHINGTON

STUDY SAYS MORE DOCTORS ARE ACCEPTING MEDICARE PATIENTS

The percentage of physicians who accept new Medicare patients has increased over the past four years despite a slight drop in physicians’ reimbursement rates, a study shows. The findings suggest doctors would not quit seeing Medicare patients if Congress had gone ahead with a proposed 4.4% cut in reimbursement rates in 2006, one of the authors said.

Paul Ginsburg, president of the Center for Studying Health System Change, a nonpartisan research organization, said that year after year of fee cuts would lead to an exodus. But, based on recent history, most doctors are willing to accept a onetime hit, he said.

– Associated Press

EAST

SANTORUM RAILS AGAINST ALITO OPPOSITION

PHILADELPHIA – On the eve of Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, conservatives rallied in Philadelphia in defense of religious liberty and in favor of federal court reform.

“Justice Sunday Three” was held in the state where Judge Alito sits on the Third U-S Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Senate’s number-three Republican, Rick Santorum, told the gathering that liberal judges are “destroying traditional morality, creating a new moral code and prohibiting any dissent.”

Mr. Santorum went on to say: “The only way to restore this republic our founders envisioned is to elevate honorable jurists like Samuel Alito.”

Some liberals fear Judge Alito is too conservative and could undermine abortion rights, a pivotal issue before the high court. Across the street, about 150 protesters held signs and chanted.

– Associated Press