Nation, world briefs 5/2/16

CIA chief: 9/11 secret data is unverified

WASHINGTON -- CIA director John Brennan said a 28-page secret chapter from a congressional inquiry into 9/11 contains preliminary information about possible Saudi links to the attackers that hadn't been corroborated or checked out at the time. The Obama administration soon may release part of the material. Brennan told NBC's "Meet the Press" there were "concerns about sensitive source of methods, investigative actions" and notes the Sept. 11 investigation still was underway. Brennan said the 9/11 Commission followed up on the preliminary information in the 28 pages and made "a very clear judgment" there was no evidence indicating "the Saudi government as an institution or Saudi officials individually" backed al-Qaida financially.

Thousands march in Moscow for May Day

MOSCOW -- Tens of thousands of people marched across Moscow's Red Square on a sunny Sunday morning in a pro-Kremlin workers' rally. The protesters were carrying the Russian tricolor and balloons. As is typical for rallies organized by the ruling United Russia party, the May Day rally steered clear of criticizing President Vladimir Putin or his government for falling living standards. The slogans focused on wages and jobs for young professionals. Left-wing Russian groups held their own rallies.

U.S. cruise ship departs for Cuba

MIAMI -- After a half-century of waiting, passengers have set sail from Miami on an historic cruise to Havana. Carnival Corp.'s 704-passenger Adonia left port about 4:24 p.m. Sunday. The cruise comes after Cuba loosened its policy banning Cuban-born people from arriving to the country by sea. Cuban-born passengers were among those aboard. Carnival said the Adonia will cruise every other week from Miami to Cuba.Passenger Rick Schneider, 73, said he waited 60 years for the chance to make the journey. He bought a Cuban flag for the occasion, which he waved at protesters who opposed the cruises. The Cuban government said the shift in policy removes prohibitions enacted when Cuban exiles were launching attacks by sea after the first Cuban revolution.

Schumer: Probe tracking billboards

NEW YORK -- A U.S. senator is calling for a federal investigation into an outdoor advertising company's latest effort to target billboard ads to specific consumers. New York Sen. Charles Schumer has dubbed Clear Channel Outdoor America's so-called RADAR program "spying billboards," warning the service may violate privacy rights by tracking people's cellphone data via the ad space. "A person's cellphone should not become a James Bond-like personal tracking device for a corporation to gather information about consumers without their consent," Schumer, a Democrat, said Sunday in Times Square, where the company operates billboards. But the company, which operates more than 675,000 billboards throughout the world, argued that characterization of its program is inaccurate, insisting it uses only anonymous data collected by other companies.

-- From wire reports