LITTLE ROCK — James Murdoch, 36, the son of News Corp. mogul Rupert Murdoch and an executive in charge of the company's businesses in Europe and Asia, criticized the British Broadcasting Corp., a main competitor, in a speech in Scotland, saying, "As Orwell foretold, to let the state enjoy a near-monopoly of information is to guarantee manipulation and distortion."
Daniel Hernandez, the Mexican director of Consular Affairs and Protection, said discrimination against Mexicans in the United States is growing and is most pronounced in areas where immigration is relatively new, although he did not cite examples or causes.
Ban Ki-moon, the U.N. chief, said in Vienna, Austria, that the world must "seal the deal" on climate change ahead of a conference in December because "the future of humanity and planet Earth are at stake."
Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian premier who has been embroiled in a sex scandal, canceled his planned participation in a Catholic religious service for the remission of sins after his presence was deemed problematic by the Vatican.
Terrance Dejuan McCoy, 23, a Detroit man who police say skipped out on the restaurant bill then stole his female companion's car on their first date, was charged with unlawfully taking the car.
Fidel Castro, 83, the former Cuban leader who hasn't been seen in public since falling ill three years ago, offered his congratulations live via speakerphone to graduating medical students in Nicaragua who had studied in Cuba.
Stefan Underhill, a federal judge in Connecticut who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, has ruled that the state's public campaign finance law, seen by some as a possible national model, is unconstitutional because it puts a burden on minor party candidates' First Amendment right to political opportunity.
Angela Simpson, 33, a Phoenix woman accused of stabbing a disabled man 50 times before dismembering and burning his body, was indicted on charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping and abandonment or concealment of a dead body in the death of 46-year-old Terry Neely.
Athena Marie Sidlar, 28, a former psychiatric aide trainee at Allentown State Hospital in Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment after she showed an 18-year-old female patient how to swallow nails, four of which had to be removed from the patient's stomach.
Ernest Murphy, a former Superior Court judge in Massachusetts, has been denied his request for a disability pension that he said he was entitled to because of stress caused by articles in the Boston Herald critical of his handling of a rape case.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 08/30/2009