National digest 10/01/01

Police holding twins in killing of deputy

PENROSE, Colo. -- Police found a cache of weapons in the home of twin brothers, known to neighbors as loners who liked to wear camouflage clothing, who are suspected of killing a sheriff's deputy and critically wounding a police officer.

Joel and Michael Stovall, 24, were being held without bail Sunday and will be formally advised of murder charges today, said Lt. Melissa Hartman of the El Paso sheriff's office. They were captured late Saturday after an all-day pursuit that led into the scenic canyons along the Arkansas River near the Royal Gorge.

At the brothers' home, investigators found several guns, several knives and what they believe to be ingredients for a bomb, said Fremont Sheriff Ivan Middlemiss.

Minnesota workers ready to strike today

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- State employees planned to walk off the job this morning after contract talks failed between the state and its two biggest unions.

Nearly 28,000 workers -- more than half of the state's work force -- could strike at 6 a.m. Only prison guards are barred from walking off the job. "A strike is pretty much imminent," said Peter Benner, executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 6, which represents 19,000 workers.

The 10,500-member Minnesota Association of Professional Employees also planned to strike after talks failed late Saturday night. A message posted Sunday on MAPE's hotline said members should contact their strike coordinator and bring American flags to the picket line.

The state Bureau of Mediation Services left open the possibility that the state and the two unions could come back together, but Benner said that does not seem likely.

Report: Extended family of bin Laden fled U.S.

NEW YORK -- Two dozen members of Osama bin Laden's family were urgently evacuated from the United States in the first days following the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, said the Saudi ambassador to Washington.

One of bin Laden's brothers frantically called the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Washington looking for protection, Prince Bandar bin Sultan told The New York Times. The brother was sent to a room in the Watergate Hotel and was told not to open the door.

Most of bin Laden's relatives were attending high school and college. The young members of the bin Laden family were driven or flown under FBI supervision to a secret place in Texas and then to Washington, The Times reported Sunday.

They left the country on a private charter plane when airports reopened three days after the attacks.

Freedom Forum to cut jobs, close offices

WASHINGTON -- Stock market losses amounting to about 30 percent of its $1 billion endowment have forced the Freedom Forum to close four international offices -- a move that will hinder the foundation's efforts to encourage world press freedoms.

Four overseas offices -- in London, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong and Johannesburg -- will be closed, statement released Friday said.

The foundation's First Amendment Center in New York will also close, but operations will be shifted to the Washington headquarters.

The Freedom Forum focuses on four main areas: the Newseum (an interactive journalism museum), First Amendment issues, newsroom diversity and press freedom around the world.

The Freedom Forum was established in 1991.

-- From wire reports