World/nation briefs

Archdiocese suspends 21 Philadelphia priestsThe Philadelphia Archdiocese suspended 21 Roman Catholic priests who were named as child molestation suspects in a grand jury report released last month. The priests have been removed from the ministry while their cases are reviewed, Cardinal Justin Rigali said. "These have been difficult weeks since the release of the grand jury report," Rigali said. "Difficult most of all for victims of sexual abuse but also for all Catholics and for everyone in our community." The names were not being released.

Governor expected to end death penaltyGov. Pat Quinn intends to abolish the death penalty in Illinois, two sponsors of the legislation said. State Rep. Karen Yarbrough and state Sen. Kwame Raoul said Quinn's staff invited them to a signing ceremony Wednesday morning in the governor's Springfield office. "It's going to happen," Raoul said. Quinn's office declined to comment Tuesday about his intentions. Quinn, a Democrat, has said he personally supports the death penalty when properly implemented and would make a decision on the bill based on his conscience.

Shots to head killed three Tucson victimsThree of the six people killed in the Jan. 8 rampage in Tucson that injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., died of gunshot wounds to the head, according to autopsy records ordered released by a judge against the wishes of prosecutors and most of the families. Those shot in the head were Giffords aide Gabriel Zimmerman and Phyllis Schneck and Dorwan Stoddard, both in their 70s. Christina Taylor Green, 9, was killed by a shot in her torso that struck her aorta. U.S. District Judge John Roll was shot in the back, with a bullet perforating his aorta, and Dorothy Morris, in her 70s, was killed by a bullet that pierced her heart.

Google to donate to Mandela FoundationGoogle Inc. said it is giving $2.5 million in the form of two equal grants to the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre to preserve, and get online, thousands of pages of historical documents relating to South Africa's movement from apartheid to democracy. The digitized materials will be made available online in the future, with the archives to include Mandela's correspondence with family, friends and fellow activists, as well as his prison diaries and notes produced as he took part in talks to end apartheid. Google also granted $1.25 million to help preserve and digitize Tutu's archive.

Women rally where others were killedThousands of women rallied on International Women's Day at the spot in Abidjan where seven women were killed by soldiers last week during a protest against Laurent Gbagbo, who has refused to yield power three months after being declared the loser of the presidential election. The women killed last week were carrying only tree branches, and some of those left behind by marchers were picked up from the still-bloodstained pavement. Four other people, three men and a women, were killed Tuesday in Abidjan when soldiers burst into a clinic.

Nuns lose $2 million stashed in wardrobeAbout $2 million has been stolen from nuns who had hidden the money in a wardrobe at their convent, police in the northern city of Zaragoza said. The money, mainly 500-euro bills, had been packed into plastic bags. The door into the room had been forced open, but the nuns at the Santa Lucia convent told police they had no idea who the culprit could be. Local residents were surprised to hear that the nuns, known for their austere lifestyle, had so much money.

Yunus' dismissal from bank is upheldThe High Court upheld the dismissal of Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus from the microcredit bank he founded and has run for three decades. The court rejected an appeal by the 70-year-old Yunus challenging the nation's central bank, which removed him last week as managing director of Grameen Bank, saying he was beyond mandatory retirement age and was reappointed without proper approval. Yunus now plans an appeal to the Supreme Court.

NEWS SERVICES