This morning's top stories:
- A mass rally in Tel Aviv today by opponents of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who is under fire for his handling of last summer's war with Lebanese extremists, is expected to draw tens of thousands as pressure mounts for his resignation.
- A South African historian believes he has identified the mysterious Victorian serial killer Jack the Ripper as Joseph Silver, a South African crime lord.
- Oregon is positioned to become the seventh state to codify civil unions for same-sex couples that grant all the legal benefits of marriage. The governor has said he will sign the bill passed by the state legislature.
- A concert organized for recovering veterans by rocker John Mellencamp, a vocal antiwar critic, went on without one prominent guest, fellow antiwar artist Joan Baez, who did not receive Army approval to perform.
- Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has backed the planned closing of the Walter Reed Medical Center, a decision originally made in 2005 that has come under greater scrutiny since news broke of shoddy conditions at the facility.
Reader Comments