NEW YORK
First Lady agrees to write memoir
First Lady Laura Bush, among the most reserved and enigmatic public figures of recent times, will tell her story.
How much she will disclose remains a mystery.
Bush has agreed to write a memoir with one of the world’s oldest publishing houses, Scribner, the house of Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and the first lady’s mother-in-law, Barbara Bush. Publication for the book is set for 2010.
But rival publishers doubt the information Bush wants to share is the same that the public wants to read; they also question whether her advance — while surely worth millions — matches the $8 million Hillary Clinton received for “Living History.”
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WASHINGTON, D.C.
Bush announces airlift aid for Darfur
President George W. Bush announced on Monday the airlift of equipment and vehicles for the humanitarian effort in Darfur, the violence-plagued western Sudan region where millions of civilians have been driven from their homes.
The move is intended to help a joint African Union-United Nations team save lives by improving the delivery of humanitarian aid. The 26,000-member peacekeeping force in Darfur has struggled with a lack of troops and transport.
Sitting with Sudan’s first vice president, Salva Kiir Mayardit, in the Oval Office, Bush said he waived State Department requirements in order to launch the airlift.
Since early 2003, up to 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have fled their homes.
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NEW YORK
Crane charges: Contractor William Rapetti was charged with manslaughter for allegedly using worn safety straps that broke apart and caused a crane to crash in Manhattan, killing seven people in March.
TEXAS
“It’s just some homeless guys that really cared about me and I cared about them.”
–Don Walker, who runs a 42-bed shelter in Paris, where five men were killed when a fire broke out Monday, partially collapsing the building. Arson is not suspected, officials said.
INDIA-PAKISTAN
Mumbai report: India handed to Pakistan on Monday what New Delhi called detailed evidence on the Mumbai attacks that proved Pakistani “elements” were behind the deadly siege. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said it was reviewing the documents.
NIGERIA
Pirate attack: Pirates hijacked a French boat and took its nine crew members hostage in the latest attack in waters off oil-rich southern Nigeria, the boat’s owner said Monday.
NETHERLANDS
Pioneer: The son of an Islamic preacher became the first Moroccan-born mayor of a Dutch city Monday. Rotterdam’s new leader, Ahmed Aboutaleb, has been compared to Barack Obama for breaching political barriers. Read more at chicagotribune.com/dutch
GREECE
Athens violence: Anti-terror police were investigating an attack Monday against riot police that severely wounded a policeman and raised fears of a resurgence of domestic terrorism.
OHIO
Tot shoots sitter: Police say an angry 4-year-old Ohio boy grabbed a shotgun and shot his baby-sitter. Nathan Beavers, 18, was hospitalized Sunday with minor wounds. The child was reportedly angry because Beavers accidentally stepped on his foot.
MISSOURI
No free beer: Anheuser-Busch has stopped giving free samples of beer in hospitality centers at its SeaWorld theme parks in Orlando, San Antonio and San Diego and its Busch Gardens parks in Tampa and Williamsburg, Va.
CALIFORNIA
Episcopal ruling: The state’s high court ruled Monday that three California parishes that left the U.S. Episcopal Church over its ordination of a gay bishop cannot retain ownership of church buildings and property.
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Page compiled from Tribune news services
