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Report: It’s splitsville for Prince Harry and longtime girlfriend

LONDON, England (AP) — Prince Harry and his Zimbabwean-born girlfriend have ended their three-year romance, a newspaper reported Sunday.

The News of the World said Chelsy Davy — who has been studying at a college in England while dating the prince — broke off the relationship this week.

She reportedly lost patience with his playboy lifestyle and lack of commitment to her.

Clarence House, where Prince Harry lives with his father Prince Charles and his brother Prince William, declined to confirm the report, saying it doesn’t comment about the royals’ private lives.

Prince Harry, 21, graduated this year from Britain’s elite Sandhust military academy after training to become an army officer.

He hopes to one day serve on the front lines if called to wars such as the one being fought in Afghanistan.
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Bhutto rejoins Pakistan protests

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) — Pakistani security forces blocked former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto from visiting the ousted chief justice of the Pakistan Supreme Court, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, on Saturday.

It was one of the government’s latest actions in its crackdown on opponents that began last Saturday when President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency and suspended the constitution.

The office of Pakistani Attorney General Malik Mohammed Qayyum told CNN on Saturday that the emergency declaration will be lifted within one month, but would not say when a formal announcement might come.

Bhutto was allowed to leave her villa compound Saturday after a day of confinement inside her home to thwart a massive opposition rally that had been planned for Friday.

Before trying to visit Chaudhry in Islamabad, Bhutto joined journalists in the capital who were protesting the media blackout.

I have come to visit the chief justice of Pakistan who is under house arrest, Bhutto told reporters. I had been told that the chief justice couldn’t leave his home but that he was allowed visitors.

So I came to visit with him and to tell him that my party stood for the independence of the judiciary, but unfortunately it seems that the regime has decided to put barbed wire and barricades to stop my visit.

Pakistani security officials have blocked the road leading to Chaudhry’s house with barbed wire and told her we will not allow you to go.

In defiance, Bhutto said she would sit in her car and wait, and asked someone in the nearby crowd to bring me a barbed wire cutter.

Musharraf fired Chaudhry earlier this year during widespread protests, and he dismissed him again last Saturday when he declared a state of emergency and suspended the constitution.

Musharraf also ousted the rest of the Supreme Court shortly after the emergency declaration, and replaced them with his supporters. Judges have been detained in their homes, surrounded by soldiers, and the judicial system is in lockdown.

Bhutto wants to see Chaudhry reinstated, and irate lawyers have been at the forefront of many of the protests. Bhutto told CNN’s Zain Verjee that she had not spoken with Musharraf for seven days.

I have not spoken to him since we decided to part ways with this public protest. But before we parted ways, I did speak to him. I did say to him when the election should be, said Bhutto, who was accused of corruption while prime minister. The public mood is against any more contact with Gen. Musharraf.

The media blackout imposed on all independent news channels since November 3 has limited local broadcasts of the festering political crisis, although anyone with satellite service can receive some of the barred networks.

CNN and the BBC were back on the air Saturday.

Pakistani police pushed into a press building filled with protesting journalists in the northeastern city of Peshawar Saturday, and in Lahore police surrounded another press building, journalists inside told CNN.

The United States and other foreign allies are pressuring Musharraf to end the state of emergency and set a date for parliamentary elections, which were originally slated for January.

Musharraf announced Thursday that the elections will be held by February 15 and restated his pledge to step down as the country’s military leader. Before the emergency order, he was scheduled to be sworn in November 15 and had pledged to step down as military chief after that date.
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Creamer increases her lead to six

MOBILE, Alabama — Paula Creamer birdied the 18th hole for the third day in as she increased her lead to six strokes after 54 holes at the LPGA Tournament of Champions.

The 21-year-old American, seeking a fourth LPGA title and her first since this year’s opener in February at Hawaii, shot 68 and for 16-under par 200, six clear of second-place compatriot Pat Hurst after three rounds.

Creamer, who led by five strokes when the day began, has gone 45 holes without a bogey.

She birdied the fifth and 12th on Saturday as well as the 15th and 18th for the third day in a row.

Hurst had a matching 68 to move into second, one stroke ahead of South Korean 24-year-old rookie Jin Joo Hong and two ahead of Korean Birdie Kim, Norway’s Suzann Pettersen and Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam.

Sorenstam is chasing a first title of the year and a place in next week’s season-ending Tour Championship. E-mail to a friend

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NTSB sends team to investigate Bay Bridge oil spill

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A National Transportation Safety Board team was on its way to California Saturday to probe why a container ship struck the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge earlier this week, spilling 58,000 gallons of oil into the water.

The oil — heavy-duty bunker fuel from the 900-foot-long ship — has spread along the San Francisco city waterfront and out of the San Francisco Bay, beneath the Golden Gate Bridge toward Marin County.

Authorities closed several beaches and shorelines to the public because of health concerns.

They also banned fishing in key locations on Port of San Francisco property. See a map of the affected areas

Dozens of birds have died since the spill, the Coast Guard told The Associated Press.

The California Department of Fish and Game said it had rescued six oiled birds, but that’s likely just the tip of the iceberg.

There have been hundreds of sightings of oiled birds in the area, according to the AP. Officials scrambled to rescue as many as possible. See photos of the spill and its impact on wildlife

Oil and feathers don’t mix, Yvonne Addassi, a wildlife biologist with the state Department of Fish and Game, told the AP.

We’re in a time crunch. The birds can only stayed oiled for so long before they can no longer be rehabilitated.

There was heavy fog when the MV Cosco Busan hit a shield surrounding a support tower of the bridge Wednesday. Watch the damage to the tower and ship

On Thursday, the Coast Guard said it had recovered about 8,000 gallons of oil from the spill.

The collision didn’t do any structural damage to the bridge — which carries more than 250,000 vehicles daily — and there was no interruption of traffic, the California Department of Transportation said.

The Cosco Busan was outbound from Oakland when it came in contact with the tower supporting the western suspension span of the Bay Bridge, the Coast Guard said. It moored near Treasure Island, which the bridge crosses, after the accident.

It was highly likely that the thick fog blanketing the bay in the early morning hours contributed to the accident, Coast Guard Petty Officer Kevin Neff said.
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Stepfather, friend charged with murder, rape in girl’s death

CASSVILLE, Missouri (AP) — Two men were charged Saturday with murder and rape in the death of a 9-year-old girl whose body was found the day before in a hillside cave in southwest Missouri.

Barry County prosecutors charged the girl’s 25-year-old stepfather, David Spears, and his friend, Chris Collings, 32, with one count each of first-degree murder, forcible rape and statutory rape in the death of Rowan Ford.

Rowan’s body was found Friday in a cave in a remote part of McDonald County, about 10 miles south of the village of Stella, where she lived with her mother and David Spears. Her disappearance last weekend led to an intensive search by dozens of officers from three counties and 50 FBI agents and specialists.

Barry County Sheriff Mick Epperly said Collings confessed to authorities on Friday.

Based in part on Collings’ statement, the affidavit Epperly sent to the prosecutor alleges that the men took Rowan from her home to a camping trailer where Collings lived in Barry County, Epperly said.

There, Epperly said, both men raped Rowan and one of them then strangled her with a cord. Epperly did not say which one of the men strangled the girl.

Collings’ brother, Greg Horton, 44, said he didn’t believe the allegations.

I don’t believe he could do something like this. He has three kids of his own, Horton said. Collings’ children are all younger than 10 and live in Arkansas with their mother, who is separated from Collings, Horton said.

Collings was being held in Barry County jail. Epperly said he didn’t know if Collings had an attorney.

Myrna Spears, David Spears’ mother, said Saturday her son did not have a lawyer. He was being held in Newton County jail.

The mother discovered her daughter was missing about 9 a.m. November 3, after working a night shift at a Wal-Mart in a nearby town.

David Spears initially told investigators he had gone out with friends the night of November 2, leaving Rowan alone after she fell asleep. He said he returned around midnight but did not check on the girl, authorities said.

Authorities said he later acknowledged he had gone out a second time, around 1:30 a.m. on November 3, after calling his mother and asking to borrow her sport utility vehicle. His mother has said she watched TV but did not check on Rowan while she waited for Spears to return. He was gone for five-and-a-half hours.

Spears previously said that it was wrong for him to leave the girl alone and that he initially withheld some information about his whereabouts that night because he was afraid authorities would suspect him in her disappearance.

Colleen and David Spears reported Rowan missing about 6:50 p.m. on November 3, after spending much of the day looking for the girl at the homes of acquaintances where they thought she might have gone. E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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