Far and Wide

Alleged pedophile from Canada arrested in Thailand

(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

An international manhunt ended in the arrest of alleged child-sex predator Christopher Paul Neil in Thailand. The Canadian schoolteacher was accused of sexually abusing over a dozen boys, and was brought into police headquarters in Bangkok.

Read more about the case, which involved photo-reconstruction technology, in this AP story by Ambika Ahuja.

-- Hillary Rhodes

Fugitive accused of videotaped rape of child caught

(AP Photo/Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Dept.)

"I'm tired of running."

That's what police said Chester "Chet" Arthur Stiles, 37, told them after the fugitive wanted for the videotaped molestation of a 3-year-old girl said after he was pulled over during a traffic stop in Henderson, Nev.

Stiles was pulled over late last night for not having a license plate and admitted his identity after police said his license looked suspicious.

Stiles had warrants out for his arrest for 21 felony charges in connection with the acts shown on the videotape.

For more on Stiles' arrest, read this report filed today from Las Vegas by Ken Ritter.

--Paul Chavez

Interpol issues wide appeal to identify pedophile

Interpol made a rare worlwide appeal today asking the public's help to identify a suspected pederast who allegedly abused boys in Cambodia and Vietnam. Police in Europe unscrambled digitally altered images of the man that were found on the Internet to reveal what he looks like.

For more details, watch the above AP video report. For the latest developments, read this story filed today from Paris by John Leicester.

--Paul Chavez

Top photos from The Associated Press

The following are some of the top photos from The Associated Press today.

(AP Photo/Morry Gash)

(AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

(AP Photo/Mikhial Metzel)

(AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Captions from top to bottom:

• Residents comfort each other outside the Praise Chapel Community Church in Crandon, Wis. , where an off-duty sheriff deputy stormed into his ex-girlfriend's house killing six people yesterday.  (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
• An Israeli soldier watches over a razor-wire fence in the area where Palestinian Muslim worshippers were trying to cross on their way to Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque for Lilat al-Qader, also known as the Night of Power. The Kalandia checkpoint is between the West Bank city of Ramallah and Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
• Russian police officers guard the Russian Soyuz TMA-11 space ship that will carry a new crew to the international space station as the rocket is transported to the launch pad at the Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. (AP Photo/Mikhial Metzel)
• Americo Corvalan, 57, sifts through recently cleaned and dried wool that will be combed and baled at the Lavalan Ltd. wool factory in Buenos Aires. The factory's 24 workers, who took over the factory in September 2002 in the aftermath of Argentina's 2001 economic crisis, affirm the factory is maintaining its production goals but they are seeking more financial and legal support from the government.  (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

-- Bernadette Tuazon

Sometimes the good guys aren't so good

(AP Photo/Morry Gash)

20-year-old Tyler Peterson of Crandon, Wis., might have been a sheriff deputy, but that didn't stop him from going on a killing rampage while off duty.

Peterson fired 30 rounds of ammunition into a home where friends had gathered, investigators said today. Of course, it looks like a romantic relationship had something to do with the shooting spree, which killed six (and Peterson, after the cops arrived).

Don't law enforcement agencies screen for likelihood of flying off the handle? "We had no idea, obviously, that anything like this would ever occur," Police Chief John Dennee said.

To learn more, read this story by the AP's Robert Imrie.

In the photo: Residents embrace outside the Praise Chapel Community Church in Crandon, Wis.

Weighty decisions in the last hour

(AP Photo/Texas Department of Criminal Justice)

Death row inmate Jose Ernesto Medellin is set to be executed in Texas for the brutal killing of two teenage girls.

But the Supreme Court will make the final decision. It turns out the state and President Bush disagree about what should happen.

To find out who thinks what -- go here, to a story by the AP's Mark Sherman.

-- Hillary Rhodes

In the news Sunday

(AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

The top stories of the moment, straight from the AP wires:

Bush, Texas at Odds Over Death Case
China Evacuates 1 Million As Storm Hits
Sex Offender Arrested in Virginia
Embattled Idaho Senator Honored in State
Report: Lindsay Lohan Leaves Rehab
Lights Out! Rockies Roar Into NLCS

In the photo: Fans cheer as the Rockies sweep the series.

In the news Saturday

(AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Here are the top news stories for now, straight from the AP wires.

Rice Issues New Rules for Blackwater
Pakistan's Musharraf Sweeps Election
Beef Recall Forces Topps to Shut Down
Police: Man Charged in ATM Killings
Bush Defends US Interrogation Methods
New Prototype Phone Gives Fitness Check

In the photo: Supporters of Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif hold a rally to condemn Pakistan's military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

Bush: U.S. does not torture detainees

President Bush told reporters today during a hastily called Oval Office appearance that the U.S. does not torture terrorism suspects. 

"This government does not torture people," the president said.

You can watch Bush's emphatic speech in the AP video report above and get the whole story in this report filed today from Washington by Jennifer Loven.

--Paul Chavez

Arrest of 'drug queen' enthralls Mexico

 

(AP Photo/Mexico's Federal Secretary of Public Safety)

Sandra Avila Beltran spent more than a decade climbing up the ranks of Mexico's male-dominated drug trade, seducing several notorious kingpins along the way and uniting Colombian and Mexican gangs. She's been dubbed the "Queen of the Pacific" for her efforts and a "narcocorrido" folk ballad about drug traffickers lauds her as "a top lady who is a key part of the business."

Her arrest last week and possible extradition to the U.S. has enthralled Mexico, where her story is being followed more closely than a melodramatic telenovela.

For more on the 46-year-old Avila Beltran, read this story filed today from Mexico City by Olga R. Rodriguez.

--Paul Chavez