CUBA: Tens of thousands flock to Revolution Plaza for controversial 'peace concert'
HAVANA (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of Cubans flocked to sprawling Revolution Plaza on Sunday for an open-air "peace concert" headlined by Colombian rocker Juanes, an event criticized by some Cuban-Americans who say the performers are lending support to the island's communist government simply by showing up.
The huge turnout at the four-hour concert under a broiling Havana sun made the Colombian heartthrob's visit the biggest by an outsider since Pope John Paul II's 1998 tour.
Hundreds of public buses ferried young and old to the concert site, and the government laid on even more transportation, hoping for a large turnout.
Most concertgoers wore white — to symbolize peace — and some held up signs reading "Peace on Earth" and "We Love You Juanes."
That excitement did not extend to some across the Florida Straits, where Juanes endured death threats, CD smashing protests and boycotts since he announced plans for the "Peace Without Borders" concert in Havana.
Police in Key Biscayne, Florida, said they were keeping watch over the homes of both the rocker and his manager, Fernan Martinez Maecha.
Still, the criticism from Florida was far from universal. Spanish-language stations covered the event and several exile groups have voiced support, describing it as a rare chance for Cubans to get a glimpse of the outside world.
BAHAMAS: John Travolta may testify at extortion trial of 2 accused of targeting the movie star
NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — John Travolta is among the potential witnesses at a Bahamas trial beginning Monday for two people accused of trying to extort $25 million from the movie star, according to court officials.
An ambulance driver and a former Bahamas senator allegedly targeted Travolta after his chronically ill son died in the Bahamas. They are accused of demanding money in exchange for not publicizing a document related to 16-year-old Jett Travolta's treatment.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday and the actor is on a list of people prosecutors could call to testify, Bahamas Chief Magistrate Roger Gomez said.
The trial in the capital, Nassau, returns the spotlight to the courts in this island chain off the Florida coast that has become familiar with celebrity cases. Last year, a jury inquest found the 2006 death of Anna Nicole Smith's 20-year-old son, Daniel, in the Bahamas was the result of an accidental drug overdose.
The Travolta case began with an extortion complaint that the actor filed with Bahamas police in January, days after his son died of a seizure at a family vacation home on Grand Bahama island.
Former Sen. Pleasant Bridgewater and paramedic Tarino Lightbourne, who was among those who tried to revive Jett after he collapsed Jan. 2, have pleaded innocent to charges including conspiracy to commit extortion.
The pair allegedly threatened Travolta with a document that would have released emergency responders from liability if the family refused an ambulance. However, police said that did not happen in Jett's case. It is unclear why the pair allegedly believed Travolta would pay to keep the document from being released.
Both defendants have been free on bail.
PUERTO RICO: Nationalist figure Lolita Lebron hospitalized for cardio-respiratory problems
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Pro-independence activist Lolita Lebron, who was pardoned by President Jimmy Carter for a 1954 attack on U.S. legislators, is in intensive care for respiratory problems, the island's Nationalist Party said Sunday.
Lebron, 88, was hospitalized Friday and moved to intensive care on Saturday at the Auxilio Mutuo hospital in Hato Rey, party spokeswoman Rosa Meneses said.
Lebron served 25 years in prison for an attack on the U.S. House of Representatives that wounded five lawmakers.
Lebron led three other nationalists in the shooting on March 1, 1954. Before firing a pistol, she unfurled the island's flag from the House spectators' gallery and shouted "Viva Puerto Rico!"
The four were sentenced to life imprisonment. In 1979, Carter pardoned them.
Lolita also was arrested in 2001 when she and five others cut through a fence in the neighboring island of Vieques to protest the death of a civilian security guard killed by an errant bomb during a U.S. Navy training exercise in 1999.
Other protesters arrested included the Rev. Al Sharpton, environmental lawyer Robert Kennedy Jr., and Jacqeline Jackson, the wife of Rev. Jesse Jackson.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Police say Giants' baseball prospect Angel Villalona main suspect in killing
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — A Dominican baseball prospect for the San Francisco Giants is the main suspect in the killing of a 25-year-old man, police said Sunday.
Angel Villalona turned himself in 12 hours after the man was shot at a bar in the southern coastal city of La Romana, Coronel Adrian Urbaez told The Associated Press.
Villalona was signed by the San Francisco Giants in 2006 and received a club-record $2.1 million signing bonus. He played in 74 games with a Giants minor-league team this season, posting a .267 batting average with nine home runs and 42 RBIs.
The 19-year-old was considered the Giants' most prized prospect when he signed and was chosen the top prospect in the Arizona Rookie League two years ago.
Frank Micheli, president of the Azucareros del Este — Villalona's winter baseball team — said he was aware someone was killed but that he had no further details.
Villalona will appear in court Monday and could face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty in the Saturday night killing of Mario Felix de Jesus Velete, police said.
CARIBBEAN: Swiss confirm officials visited Guantanamo to examine taking in inmates
BERN, Switzerland (AP) — Swiss officials visited the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, last month to gather information on inmates the Alpine country is considering taking in when they are released, the Justice Ministry said Sunday.
Ministry spokesman Guido Balmer declined to confirm a report in Zurich weekly SonntagsZeitung that the four inmates in question were two Chinese Muslims — or Uighurs — an Uzbek national and a Palestinian.
Switzerland is among a number of European countries including Ireland, Portugal, France and Germany that have indicated they might be willing to take in released prisoners who are unable to return to their homeland for fear of persecution.
U.S. President Barack Obama has pledged to close the detention center, which still houses over 200 inmates.
PUERTO RICO: Police say man suspected in fatal stabbing is killed by car while fleeing scene
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Authorities in Puerto Rico say a man suspected of stabbing a 19-year-old to death was run over while trying to escape.
In a statement Sunday, police say 57-year-old Pedro Quinones Nunez was hit by a car Saturday as he crossed the highway in front of a public housing complex in San Juan.
Police say that minutes earlier, Jose Alberto Cadi was fatally stabbed outside the Llorens Torres complex, where the suspect lived.
TOBAGO: Police investigate deaths of 2 teenage boys
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) — Police in Tobago are investigating the deaths of two teenage boys whose bodies were found near a residential area.
District Medical Officer Mentor Melville says a 16-year-old was stabbed and the other had a big cut on his head.
Melville said Sunday that the teenagers might have been killed elsewhere.
Police said they have not been able to identify one of the victims and that no missing person reports have been filed.
The bodies were found Saturday.
The normally tranquil island made headlines last month after a British couple were brutally attacked in their home there. Police have charged one man with attempted murder.
GUYANA: Garbage collection to resume after 2-week strike for back pay
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Guyana garbage collectors are back to work after a two-week strike that left piles of rotting waste and sparked a feud between government officials.
The central government and Georgetown agreed to pay more than half of an outstanding $400,000 bill to end the strike. Finance Minister Ashni Singh and city officials met for most of Saturday to reach an agreement.
The city's two main waste-collecting companies expect to start work Monday.
Residents had been forced to burn waste, haul it to a landfill or depend on horse-drawn carts.
Copyright 2009 AP Features
