Nation & World Briefly Aug. 14

Gunmen kidnap American in eastern Pakistan

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) - Gunmen kidnapped an American development expert after tricking his guards and breaking into his house in Pakistan on Saturday, a brazen raid that alarmed aid workers, diplomats and other foreigners who already tread carefully in this country rife with Islamic militancy and anti-U.S. sentiment.

The U.S. Embassy identified the victim as Warren Weinstein. Weinstein is the Pakistan country director for J.E. Austin Associates, a development contractor that has received millions of dollars from the aid arm of the U.S. government, according to a profile on LinkedIn, a networking website.

Police declined to speculate on the motive, and no group immediately claimed responsibility. But kidnappings for ransom are common in Pakistan, with foreigners being occasional targets. Criminal gangs are suspected in most abductions, but Islamic militants, are believed to also use the tactic to raise money.

Lahore has seen a number of militant attacks, and the Punjab region where it is located is home to several of Pakistan's top militant networks, some of which are suspected of ties to Pakistani intelligence.

Police said the American, believed to be in his 60s, had returned to his home in the eastern city of Lahore the previous night from the capital, Islamabad. He had told his staff that would be wrapping up his latest project and moving out of Pakistan by Monday, police officer Tajammal Hussain said.

British police charge 2 with murder during Birmingham riots

LONDON (AP) - A man and teenager were charged Saturday with the murder of three men in a hit-and-run attack during riots in the English city of Birmingham, the deadliest attack during the past week's street unrest in Britain.

Both males would be arraigned Sunday morning at Birmingham Magistrates Court on three counts each of murder, police said.

Joshua Donald, 26, from a street gang stronghold in Birmingham was identified as the older suspect. The 17-year-old suspect, who lives in the same district as the three dead men, was not identified because of his juvenile status.

The breakthrough follows an intensive investigation by a team of 70 detectives into Wednesday's hit-and-run slaying of Haroon Jahan, 20, and brothers Shazad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, 31. They were killed after a car, allegedly containing several looters, struck them at high speed as they stood guard in front of a row of Pakistani-owned shops.

The killings threatened to ignite clashes between the area's South Asian and black gangs, but the father of Haroon Jahan made a series of public statements pleading for racial harmony and no retaliation.

Internet war of words breaks out over killing of black man

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Authorities call it a hate crime by two white teens against a middle-aged black man, "murder by physically assaulting and purposefully using a 1998 Ford F-250 to run over James Craig Anderson."

Defense lawyers insist the incident had nothing to do with race. One of the teen's attorneys said the group was on a beer run that morning, not out looking for a black man to assault, as prosecutors claim.

Regardless of whether race had anything to do with the killing, that's how it's being seen by many who live far away from Mississippi's capital. Stoked in part by security camera footage showing Anderson being run over, people across the country have begun to sound off on social media pages created for and against the defendants, filling them with shrill, often hateful comments.

Pages have been set up to solicit prayers for the victim and one of the suspects, but the posts have become more heated since the surveillance video was made public. Another Web page calls for the executions of Deryl Dedmon and John Aaron Rice, who were 18 when the 49-year-old Anderson was run down on a Jackson street just before dawn on June 26.

Both were both initially charged with murder, though the charge against Rice was reduced to simple assault after a detective testified Rice left the scene in a separate vehicle before Anderson was run down.

Md. businessman held in woman's death in Aruba

GAITHERSBURG, Md. (AP) - The man Aruban authorities suspect was involved in the death of his travel companion while visiting the Dutch Caribbean island courted other women with his blue-green eyes, tall physique and offers of cruises and vacations, and his $1.3 million stone mansion in this upper-class Washington suburb.

But Gary Giordano's ex-romantic interests say the allure was only surface-deep.

Giordano, 50, a self-employed businessman and twice-divorced father of three sons, has denied any wrongdoing through his attorney since the disappearance of 35-year-old Robyn Gardner, who authorities now believe is dead. Her remains have not been found, despite four days of searching the area where Giordano told officials an ocean current pulled her away as they snorkeled Aug. 2.

FBI agents combed through Giordano's Gaithersburg home Friday night. On Saturday, Solicitor General Taco Stein said a pink shirt and black sandals found during a search of an abandoned phosphate mine - near where Giordano told authorities Gardner disappeared - did not belong to the woman.

Giordano has told authorities that Gardner, a platinum blonde who loved tennis and running, never made it back to shore after the two became separated. The exact nature of their relationship isn't clear, and she had a boyfriend at home in Maryland. Authorities doubt certain aspects of his story, including whether the pair even went into the water, and say they're seeking witnesses to build their case against him.

Germany commemorates building of Berlin Wall 50 years ago

BERLIN (AP) - The Berlin Wall's construction 50 years ago must be a constant reminder to citizens today to stand up for freedom and democracy, the city's mayor said Saturday as a united Germany commemorated the bitter anniversary.

Seeing Berlin divided by the wall tore apart the country as well as separating the city's streets, neighbors and families, mayor Klaus Wowereit said at a televised ceremony.

"It is our shared responsibility to keep the memory alive and to pass it on to the coming generations as a reminder to stand up for freedom and democracy to ensure that such injustice may never happen again," Wowereit said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel - who grew up behind the wall in Germany's communist eastern part - also attended the commemoration in Berlin, where parts of the wall and an attached surveillance tower now form a museum.

The road where the museum is located was divided in two on August 13, 1961, and some 2,000 east German residents were expelled from their houses to allow the communist authorities to secure the new border.