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W ORLD N ATION C THE TIMES TUESDAY MARCH 25, 2008 LATEST DEATHS No new deaths reported. LATEST ID S ● Army Pvt. Tyler J. Smith, 22, Bethel, Maine; died Friday of wounds suffered from indi- rect fire at Forward Operating Base Fal- con near Baghdad; was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regi- ment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga. ● Three soldiers were killed Satur- day when their vehicle was struck by an explosive in Baghdad. All were assigned to 1132nd Military Police Company, North Carolina Army National Guard, Rocky Mount, N.C. Killed were Army Sgt. Thomas C. Ray II, 40, Weaverville, N.C.; Army Spc. David S. Stelmat, 27, Littleton, N.H.; and Army Sgt. David B. Williams, 26, Tarboro, N.C. WAR REPORT FIGHTING FOR FOOD If you're seeing your grocery bill go up, you're not alone. From subsistence farmers eating rice in Ecuador to gourmets feasting on escargot in France, consumers worldwide face rising food prices in what analysts call a perfect storm of conditions. Freak weather is a factor. But so are dramatic changes in the global economy, including higher oil prices, lower food reserves and growing consumer demand in China and India. PAGE C4 IN POLITICS Kevorkian announces run for Congress SOUTHFIELD, MICH. (AP) — Assisted- suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian says he is run- ning for Con- gress. The 79-year- old Kevorkian has told reporters in Southfield, Mich., that he is running in the November elec- tion as an inde- pendent for a congressional seat representing Detroit’s suburbs. He faces incumbent Republican Rep. Joe Knollenberg. Kevorkian claims to have helped at least 130 people die from 1990 until 1998. He was con- victed of second-degree murder in one case and spent just over eight years in prison. Kevorkian has promised not to help in any other assisted sui- cides. A TIBETAN WOMAN cries inside a police van in frustration after a peace rally being held along with Amnesty International was dispersed by policemen in Katmandu, Nepal, on Monday. Eleven members of Amnesty International along with their country head were also detained. AP/SAURABH DAS Chanting “China, stop killings in Tibet. U.N., we want justice,” protesters were marching toward the U.N. offices in Kat- mandu when police stopped them about 300 feet away, beat them with bamboo sticks and snatched their banners. The protesters demanded the U.N. investigate the recent crackdown in Tibet by Chinese authorities. Scores more who demonstrated in another part of the capital were also arrested, the U.N. human rights office in Nepal said in a statement. Police official Sarad Karki said about 245 were arrested in the Lalitpur area, where the U.N. offices are located. Nepal, which has good relations with neighboring China, has said it will not allow protests against any “friendly nation,” including China, and has not issued any statements on Beijing’s crackdown on anti- Chinese protests in Tibet. —AP AGONY OF UNREST AP/MARK LENNIHAN THE BEAR STEARNS headquarters, right, and the JP Morgan headquarters, left, are shown on Monday in New York. NEW YORK — JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s high- er offer for Bear Stearns on Monday gave the investment bank control of nearly 40 percent of its ailing rival, blunting the threat that angry shareholders could scut- tle the deal. The $2.4 billion lifeline to rescue the investment house stands a strong chance of success — assuaging investors unhappy with a $2 per share offer by upping it to $10 apiece. JPMorgan has faced an outcry among Bear Stearns shareholders about the lowball offer, and faced the possibility that rival deals would begin to surface. Most analysts said a higher bid was unlikely, but some bondholders have reportedly been buying the stock in order to ensure their right to vote for a deal and prevent a bankruptcy that would wipe them out. Bear Stearns’ shares — which hit $160 last year and still traded near $80 ear- lier in the month — nearly doubled to $11.25 on Monday. However, for a company whose market value went from $8.3 billion to about $1 bil- lion in a little more than a week, the Hamza Hendawi and Qassim Abdul-Zahra ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITERS BAGHDAD — Rocket attacks on the U.S.-protected Green Zone may carry a message with implications across Iraq: rising anger within the Mahdi Army militia. The Shiite fighters led by anti- American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr are reorganizing their ranks, tak- ing delivery of new weapons from Iran and ramping up complaints about crackdowns by U.S. and Iraqi forces that could unravel the Mahdi Army’s self-declared cease- IRAQ PRESSURES MOUNTING Mahdi Army: A volcano of anger about to erupt JPMorgan Chase raises offer for Bear Stearns to $10 share KEVORKIAN David Ashenfelter, Joe Swickard and Zachary Gorchow DETROIT FREE PRESS DETROIT — Wayne County, Mich., Prosecutor Kym Worthy charged Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and former chief of staff Christine Beat- ty on Monday with perjury, obstruction, conspiracy and misconduct. Kilpatrick said that he expects “full and com- plete vindica- tion.” The mayor spoke two hours after Worthy announced to a packed news conference that she is charging Kilpatrick with eight felonies and Beatty with seven. Kilpatrick, reading from a prepared state- ment at a news conference, said he is “deeply disap- pointed,” but not surprised by Worthy’s decision. “This has been a very flawed process from the begin- ning,” he said. “I look forward to complete exoneration once all the facts in this matter have been brought forth.” The mayor’s attorney, Dan Webb, said the mayor will be found innocent of the charges and will not resign. “This man, my client, the mayor, is entitled to his day in court,” he said. “If this man is required to resign his office before his jury trial, that means he’s going to be punished before his day in court.” Webb said he has instructed Kil- patrick to not respond to reporters’ questions. “We’re not going to try this case in the press.” Webb said he hoped the mayor would be arraigned Monday, but said a specific time and location had not been reached. “We’re ready to go,” he said. “And we want to go to court today.” But Webb said Worthy’s office has yet to provide a copy of the charges to him. And Webb said he would seek to block what so far has been the linchpin in the scandal — the text messages exchanged between Kilpatrick and Beatty — from being introduced at the trial. Mayor, ex-aide charged PERJURY, CONSPIRACY, MISCONDUCT ALLEGED P olice in Nepal’s capital arrested about 475 Tibetan refugees, monks and their supporters Monday as they gathered to protest a crackdown on Tibetans in neighboring China, the U.N. said. WALL STREET “This has been a very flawed process from the beginning. I look forward to complete exoneration once all the facts in this matter have been brought forth.” Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick See SHARE, Page C3 FBI RECOVERS REMAINS OF 2 U.S. CONTRACTORS WASHINGTON (AP) — Authorities have recovered the remains of two U.S. contractors who were kidnapped in Iraq more than a year ago, the FBI said Monday. The men were among six Western contractors kid- napped in separate incidents. Their disappearance received new attention earlier this month when the sev- ered fingers of several men were sent to the U.S. military in Iraq. The FBI identified the contractors Monday as Ronald Withrow of Roaring Springs, Texas, and John Roy Young of Kansas City, Mo. Withrow worked for JPI Worldwide when he was kid- napped in January 2007. Young worked for Crescent Secu- rity Group when he was kidnapped in November 2006. See IRAQ, Page C2 TOTAL U.S. DEATHS 4,000 DEATHS BY HOSTILE ACTION 3,253
