Disgraced U.S. cardinal retires
VATICAN CITY - Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned in disgrace as Boston's archbishop in 2002 after the priest sex-abuse scandal exploded in the United States, has retired from his subsequent job as head of a major Roman basilica.
The Vatican said Monday that Pope Benedict XVI had accepted the 80-year-old Law's resignation as archpriest of St. Mary Major basilica and had named Spanish Monsignor Santos Abril y Castello to replace him.
Law's 2004 appointment as the archpriest of one of Rome's most important basilicas had been harshly criticized by victims of priestly sex abuse, who charged that bishops who covered up for pedophile priests should be punished, not rewarded.
Law, who turned 80 earlier this month, became the first and so far only U.S. bishop to resign for mishandling cases of priests who sexually abused children. - AP
San Suu Kyi likely to be a candidate
HONG KONG - Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of Myanmar's main opposition movement, is likely to run for Parliament in a coming election, senior members of her party said Monday.
It would be the first time that Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate who is the face of democracy in Myanmar, has run for office.
Her party, the National League for Democracy, announced last week that it would rejoin the political system after more than two decades campaigning against the military's control of Myanmar, which is also called Burma.
Aung San Suu Kyi will be among candidates contesting 48 vacant seats in Parliament, said senior party member U Win Tin. Her candidacy is contingent on the party's successfully reregistering and her winning support from the party's central committee.
Elsewhere:
Bahrain authorities have charged 20 members of the security forces for alleged abuse of protesters during a Shiite-led uprising against the Persian Gulf kingdom's Sunni rulers. At least 35 people have died since February when Bahrain's Shiite majority started campaigning for greater rights in the island nation, the home of U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet.
