Nation digest 05/13/03

School suspends several students in hazing case

GLENVIEW, Ill. -- A suburban high school Monday suspended several seniors involved in a brutal off-campus hazing melee and will recommend the girls be expelled.

Principal Michael Riggle of Glenbrook North High said he took the steps after the district's lawyer advised him that the school had broader powers to discipline students for the videotaped incident than he had thought.

The 10-day suspensions are the longest the school can mete out, Riggle said. He said it would be up to the district to decide whether to expel the students.

Junior girls from the school were beaten and showered with mud, feces and garbage by seniors on May 4 at a Cook County park. Five girls were injured seriously enough that they had to go to the hospital.

Riggle said only senior girls who participated in the hazing were suspended, not other students who watched.

W.Va. governor admits to being 'not faithful'

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Accused of having an affair with a state employee, Gov. Bob Wise acknowledged Monday that he "was not faithful" to his family and asked for forgiveness.

Wise, who has a wife and two children, issued a statement in response to inquiries from the Charleston Daily Mail, which on Monday reported that a man was accusing the governor of having had an affair with his estranged wife.

Wise, a Democrat, was elected in 2000. The governor's press secretary, Amy Shuler Goodwin, said the situation will not affect his re-election plans.

U.S. soybean stockpiles the highest since 1999

WASHINGTON -- U.S. soybean stockpiles this year are expected to be the highest they've been since 1999 as foreign exporters increase competition, the Agriculture Department said Monday.

Soybean stockpiles in the United States will grow to 245 million bushels by 2004, up from the 135 million bushels stockpiled this marketing year, department economists said. Exports probably will be 27 million metric tons, a decrease from last year's 28.9 million.

U.S. competitors are increasing their exports. Argentina likely will export 9.1 million tons for 2002-2003, up nearly 3 million tons since 2001. Brazil is expected to export 20.5 million tons, up 5 million tons since 2001.

Ex-FBI agent, alleged lover plead innocent

LOS ANGELES -- A retired FBI agent and the woman who allegedly was both his lover and a double agent for the Chinese government pleaded innocent Monday to national security violations.

Katrina Leung, 49, who is being held without bail, was brought to court in a green prison jacket and stood before a federal magistrate a few feet away from James J. Smith, who had been her FBI handler for 20 years.

Among other things, she is accused of taking classified documents from Smith's briefcase and copying them with intent to use them to benefit a foreign nation.

Smith, 59, is charged with fraud for allegedly filing false reports to FBI headquarters about Leung's reliability and with gross negligence for allegedly allowing her access to classified material. He is free on $250,000 bail.

Two open fire near Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS -- Two men opened fire outside a Hard Rock Cafe early Monday, injuring three people and spraying the area with more than 30 shots, witnesses and authorities said.

None of the injuries was life-threatening, police Lt. Brian Evans said. Witnesses reported more than 30 shots were fired about 3:30 a.m. at the cafe just a few blocks east of the Las Vegas Strip.

Evans said patrons dove to the floor and ran for the doors when a large man in his 20s waved a semiautomatic pistol during a hip-hop music show. No shots were fired inside and no one inside was wounded.

-- From wire reports