TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Honduras’ interim government is cracking down on civil rights in response to ousted President Manuel Zelaya’s calls for rebellion. The order announced by government officials late Sunday suspends key individual liberties and guarantees contained in the Honduran Constitution — allowing authorities to ban any “unauthorized” public meetings, arrest people without warrants and temporarily close news media outlets that “attack peace and order.” Earlier in the day, Zelaya called on his supporters to stage a mass march today to mark the three-month anniversary of the June 28 coup that ousted him.
Philippines: Tropical storm flooding kills 86
Many Filipinos tried to rebuild their lives today after saving little more than the clothes they wore in a tropical storm and the capital’s worst flooding in more than four decades. At least 86 people were dead and 32 missing. Tropical Storm Ketsana tore through the northern Philippines on Saturday, dumping more than a month’s worth of rain in just 12 hours, swamping entire towns, setting off landslides and leaving neighborhoods in the capital with destroyed houses, overturned vehicles and roads covered in mud and debris.
Portugal: Socialists keep grip on power
The center-left Socialist Party is staying in government for four more years after winning elections Sunday but its reduced parliamentary majority may handicap its efforts to lead Portugal out of an economic crisis. With almost all votes counted, the incumbent Socialists had 36.5 percent compared with 29 percent for the center-right Social Democratic Party, the main opposition party. That gave the Socialists 94 seats in the 230-seat Parliament, making it vulnerable to opposition efforts to block legislation, which requires approval by more than half of lawmakers.
India: Julia Roberts film set causes ruckus
Young boys climbed trees and villagers crowded rooftops in a tiny dusty village in northern India on Sunday to catch a glimpse of Academy Award-winner Julia Roberts shooting her new film, “Eat, Pray, Love.” Scores of policemen armed with bamboo sticks, private guards and plainclothes security guards kept curious visitors at bay as the “Pretty Woman” star walked about the sets created at Mirzapur village, 40 miles south of the Indian capital, New Delhi. Huge black screens protected the sets from television crews and photographers. In the film, Roberts plays the part of an American woman who leaves behind a troubled marriage and sets out on a journey of self-discovery.
Czech Republic: Pope visits
Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday that all of Europe — and not only this ex-communist country — must acknowledge its Christian heritage as it copes with rising immigration from other cultures and religions. The second day of Benedict’s pilgrimage to this highly secular country was marked by a joyous open-air Mass that drew tens of thousands of pilgrims and a sober message for the entire continent.
Florida: Man burned in fight
Officials say a 47-year-old man was airlifted to a central Florida hospital for treatment after he was severely burned during a fight over beer, cigarettes and money. Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood told the Daytona Beach News-Journal that the man was drinking in a home’s back yard when the fight broke out Saturday afternoon. During the scuffle, 42-year-old John Harper dragged the man into a wooded area, poured gasoline on his face and lit a fire. Chitwood said a bystander helped put out the flames. Harper was jailed on $100,000 bond. He faces charges of attempted felony murder. It is unclear if he has an attorney.
Wisconsin: Noxious algae
Waterways across the upper Midwest are increasingly plagued with ugly, smelly and potentially deadly blue-green algae, bloomed by drought and fertilizer runoffs from farm fields, that’s killed dozens of dogs and sickened many people. Aquatic biologists say it’s a problem that falls somewhere between a human health concern and a nuisance, but will eventually lead to more human poisoning. State officials are telling people who live on algae-covered lakes to close their windows, stop taking walks along the picturesque shorelines and keep their dogs from drinking the rank water. Peggy McAloon, 62, lives on Wisconsin’s Tainter Lake and calls the algae blooms the “cockroach on the water.”
From Herald news services
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