Nation briefs 8/19/05

Former Chicago Sun-Times publisher indicted for fraud

CHICAGO -- Former Chicago Sun-Times publisher David Radler, a lawyer for the newspaper's parent company and a media holding company controlled by Conrad Black were indicted on federal fraud charges Thursday for allegedly diverting $32 million from shareholders. The indictment alleges that Radler, Ravelston Corp., the Toronto-based holding company behind the troubled Hollinger media empire, and Mark S. Kipnis, the top in-house lawyer for Chicago-based Hollinger International, cheated shareholders in the United States and Canada, as well as Canadian tax authorities.

Coral reef ecosystems declining in U.S. waters

WASHINGTON -- Coral reef ecosystems, among the oldest and most diverse forms of life, are declining in U.S. waters because of overfishing, climate change, marine diseases, land-based pollution, storms and grounded ships. Such ecosystems "clearly are beset by a wide array of significant threats," the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a report Thursday. About three-quarters of all the threats to coral reefs have not changed since the agency's last overview three years ago. Nearly half of those are considered medium to high threats.

Five U.S. church workers detained in China

SHANGHAI, China -- Authorities in northern China detained five American church workers in raids on unofficial Protestant church groups, a U.S.-based monitoring group said Thursday. Four Americans, including a married couple, were held after authorities broke up a Christian fellowship service Monday in Luoyang in Henan province, about 460 miles southwest of Beijing, the China Aid Association said. Police also detained 27 Chinese citizens in the raid. Another American was detained by plainclothes officers while walking in the nearby city of Yichuan.

Priest teaching a class in Colombia shot to death

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Gunmen dragged a Catholic priest out of a classroom in rural Colombia Thursday and shot him to death, bringing to three the number of clergy killed in South American nation this week, officials said. The Rev. Jesus Adrian Sanchez, 32, was teaching a high school religion class in Chaparral county, about 130 miles southwest of Bogota, when he was seized by the gunmen, said parish priest Lizardo Monroy. Monroy said he knew of no threats against Sanchez. Tolima state police chief Col. Luis Ramirez said it was too early to say who may have killed Sanchez.

-- From wire reports

Western Sahara guerrillas release the last Moroccan POWs from long-ended war

RABAT, Morocco -- Western Sahara guerrillas on Thursday released their last Moroccan prisoners, 404 soldiers held for up to 20 years from a long-ended war over the barren but phosphate-rich region, the Red Cross announced. The Moroccans had been held in Polisario Front camps in southern Algeria and were to be repatriated under Red Cross auspices. Their release following mediation by the United States removes one of the obstacles to peace for the Western Sahara region. The soldiers were to be flown to the Moroccan city of Agadir.