San Diego mayor ends time in office quietly
SAN DIEGO – Mayor Bob Filner’s abbreviated tenure as mayor ended Friday but the sexual harassment allegations that drove him from office promise to follow him into retirement.
The only scheduled event marking his final day was a mock celebration by accusers who gave him several parting gifts, including a mirror that attorney Gloria Allred said he can look at when asking who’s to blame for his resignation.
The former 10-term congressman had no public appearances scheduled. His spokeswoman, Lena Lewis, didn’t respond to messages seeking comment on his whereabouts.
Some evacuations lifted in Yosemite fire
FRESNO, Calif. – Nearly a third of the huge forest fire burning in and around Yosemite National Park was contained Friday and some small communities in the area were no longer under evacuation advisories.
Nearly 5,000 firefighters were battling the blaze, but in another sign of progress some were expected to be released to go home, said Daniel Berlant, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The 2-week-old blaze burning in the Sierra Nevada northeast of Fresno has scorched 315 square miles of brush, oaks and pine, making it the largest U.S. wildfire to date this year and the fifth largest wildfire in modern California records. Containment was estimated at 32 percent.
18-year-old convicted in slaying of baby
MARIETTA, Ga. – An 18-year-old man was convicted of murder in the shooting of a baby who was riding in a stroller alongside his mom in a town in coastal Georgia despite the defense’s attempt to cast guilt upon several others, including the child’s parents.
Jurors deliberated about two hours before finding De’Marquise Elkins guilty of 11 counts, including two counts of felony murder and one count of malice murder in the March 21 killing of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago in Brunswick. The man’s mother, Karimah Elkins, was on trial alongside him and was found guilty of tampering with evidence but acquitted of lying to police.
North Korea rescinds invite for U.S. envoy
WASHINGTON – North Korea has rescinded its invitation for a senior U.S. envoy to travel to Pyongyang to seek the release of a detained American, the State Department said Friday, abruptly dimming hopes for improved relations already strained by the North’s nuclear program.
Bob King, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights, was due to travel Friday from Tokyo to Pyongyang to request a pardon and amnesty for Kenneth Bae, and return the next day.
Bae, a 45-year-old tour operator and Christian missionary, was sentenced in April to 15 years of hard labor by the authoritarian state, which accused him of subversion. He was recently hospitalized.
Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the U.S. was “surprised and disappointed by North Korea’s decision” and remains gravely concerned about Bae’s health.
Brotherhood members hold protests in Egypt
CAIRO – Tens of thousands of protesters and Muslim Brotherhood supporters rallied Friday throughout Egypt against a military coup and a bloody security crackdown, though tanks and armored police vehicles barred them from converging in major squares.
The protests appeared smaller than the mass demonstrations seen in previous weeks, despite a massive push by the Brotherhood for “decisive” rallies across the country after Friday prayers.
The largest protest in the capital, Cairo, had more than 10,000 protesters. Thousands gathered in other cities, with other smaller protests drawing hundreds, including many women and children.
Associated Press
