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OBAMA In Buchenwald, Obama to target Holocaust denial

DRESDEN, Germany (AP) President Barack Obama is in Germany for a solemn rendezvous with history.

After meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel in Dresden, Obama is to fly by helicopter to the site of the Buchenwald concentration camp. That's where an estimated 56,000 people perished during World War II. Most were Jews who were worked to death, shot or hanged by Nazi guards.

The visit comes on the eve of commemorations in France of the 65th anniversary of the Allies' D-Day invasion. It comes the day after Obama's long-awaited speech to the Muslim world seeking a fresh start in relations with America.

The speech in Cairo included a scathing indictment of those who question the Holocaust. To do so, Obama said, "is baseless, it is ignorant, and it is hateful."


KOREAS-NUCLEAR Report: US decides to slap own financial sanction on NKorea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) A South Korean newspaper says Washington is telling the government in Seoul (sohl) that the U.S.

will impose its own financial sanctions on North Korea.

The U.N. Security Council has been mulling how to punish North Korea for its latest nuclear test.

The U.S. sanctions would be separate. According to the newspaper Chosun Ilbo, they would blacklist foreign financial institutions that help the North launder money and conduct other questionable deals.

Last week, Pyongyang conducted a barrage of missile launches and an underground nuclear test that violated previous U.N. Security Council sanctions. The North also appears to be preparing for more missile tests, including one believed to be capable of reaching the U.S.

NKOREA-JOURNALISTS HELD North Korea silent about US journalists' trial

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) North Korea is remaining silent about the trial of two American journalists.

TV reporters Laura Ling and Euna Lee are facing the secretive communist nation's highest court on allegations they crossed into the country illegally and engaged in "hostile acts." The case is threatening to raise tensions with the U.S.

No details of the trial have been released since the North's official news agency filed a brief dispatch Thursday saying the proceedings would be held later that day.

A State Department spokesman says Washington has no independent confirmation that the trial has begun. The North has said no foreign observers would be allowed to watch the trial.

The journalists were doing a story about the trafficking of women when they were arrested March 17 near the Chinese-North Korean border.

CHRYSLER-BANKRUPTCY NEW: Appeals court to hear argument vs. Chrysler sale

NEW YORK (AP) The decision on whether Chrysler can sell the bulk of its assets to a group led by Italy's Fiat heads to a federal appeals court in New York today.

The proposed sale is part of Chrysler's plan to emerge from bankruptcy protection.

The court will hear arguments from attorneys representing Chrysler LLC, Fiat Group SpA and a trio of Indiana state pension and construction funds.

The funds argue the deal unfairly favors the interests of the company's unsecured stakeholders ahead of those of secured debtholders such as themselves.

The appeals court halted the sale earlier this week, pending the Indiana state funds' appeal. Chrysler had hoped to close the sale by the end of this week.

Chrysler has maintained that the sale is its only hope of avoiding selling itself off piece by piece. If the sale doesn't close by June 15, Fiat has the option of pulling out of the deal.

China-HUMMER Reports question Chinese Hummer acquisition

SHANGHAI (AP) General Motors' planned sale of its Hummer brand to a little-known Chinese truck maker could be blocked by regulators in China.

GM announced earlier this week that it has a tentative agreement to sell Hummer to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co.

Neither company has provided financial details about the planned purchase.

Such a deal would have to be approved by the Chinese Commerce Ministry, at least at the provincial level. Reports in the Shanghai Securities News and other state-run newspapers raise questions over whether the deal will be allowed to go through, with one report likening the Chinese company's plan to a "snake trying to swallow an elephant." News of the deal has also raised questions in the U.S. about the future of the military's Humvee. The U.S. Army is assuring people that GM's deal has nothing to do with the military version of the rugged vehicle.

CARRADINE-DEATH UPDATE: Thai police: Carradine death may be accidental

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BANGKOK (AP) Thai police say that American actor David Carradine, a cult star best known for the 1970s TV series "Kung Fu," may have died from accidental suffocation, after authorities found him dead in a Bangkok hotel closet with a rope tied to his neck and genitals.

The 72-year-old actor's body was discovered Thursday hanging in the closet of his luxury hotel room. Police initially said they were investigating and suspected suicide, though one of Carradine's managers questioned that theory.

Police Lt. Gen. Police Lt. Gen. Worapong Chewprecha has told reporters that Carradine was found with a rope tied around his genitals and another rope around his neck. He says it was unclear whether Carradine died of suicide, suffocation or heart failure due to an orgasm.

AUSTRALIA-DIVING DEATH UPDATE: Watson to serve only a year in prison

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) An American is expected to serve one year in an Australian prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter in the scuba-diving death of his wife.

David Gabriel Watson was sentenced to 4 1/2 years, but most of that sentence was suspended, not an unusual occurrence.

Watson had been due to stand trial in Queensland for murder, which carried a potential life sentence. But the prosecution accepted the guilty plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Watson married Christina Mae Watson in Birmingham, Ala., in October 2003. Eleven days later, a dive instructor found her lying on the bottom of the ocean during a weeklong Great Barrier Reef scuba diving trip.

David Watson told police her death was an accident.

BRAZIL-PLANE UPDATE: French minister warns about alleged Airbus debris

PARIS (AP) France's transportation minister says French forces have found no evidence of an Airbus A330 airplane that vanished over the Atlantic and is urging "extreme prudence" about suspected debris fished from the ocean.

Dominique Bussereau says he regrets that an announcement by Brazilian teams that they had recovered plane debris from Air France flight 447 turned out to be false.

He told RTL radio on Friday that the search must continue and stressed that the priority is finding the flight recorders. The plane went down Sunday night with 228 people aboard.

Confusion broke out Thursday after the Brazilian Air Force said a helicopter plucked a cargo pallet from the sea that came from the plane, but six hours later said it was not from the Airbus.

MISSING GIRL-MICHIGAN UPDATE: Paper: Relative says missing MI girl's body found

RAISINVILLE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) The search for a missing 5-year-old Michigan girl is apparently over, and it's not a happy ending.

A relative says the girl's body has been found near a river in southeast Michigan. The relative tells The Monroe Evening News that the remains are those of Nevaeh (nuh-VAY'-uh) Buchanan. The body was found about seven miles from where the girl was last seen May 24 in the parking lot of her apartment complex in nearby Monroe.

A teenager who was out fishing with his father and grandfather says they discovered the body encased in cement.

A task force of federal, state and local law enforcement personnel has been working 24 hours a day to find Nevaeh.

Neighbors, friends and family members also have organized groups to look for the girl. continued Thursday night.

ARMSTRONG-SON Armstrong announces birth of son on Twitter

UNDATED (AP) Lance Armstrong has announced the birth of his son on the social-networking site Twitter.

Armstrong, who won the Tour de France seven straight years after overcoming testicular cancer, posted a tweet about 11:15 p.m. EDT Thursday welcoming Max Armstrong to the world. He said his son and girlfriend, Anna Hansen, were both fine and attached a picture of the newborn.

Armstrong also has three children with his ex-wife, Kristin.

Three years after retiring following his last Tour de France win, Armstrong announced in September his return to competition and the Tour de France in 2009. He called his comeback an attempt to raise global awareness in his fight against cancer.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 06-05-09 0246CDT | save this article / add to your favorites list