Nation in brief

Methodists decide to review case of openly lesbian pastor

PITTSBURGH - United Methodists ordered their top court to review the case of a lesbian pastor after the court ruled Saturday that gay sex violates Christian teaching.

The denomination's General Conference voted 551-345 to direct the Judicial Council to review the case of the Rev. Karen Dammann, whose avowed homosexuality led to church charges of committing practices "incompatible with Christian teaching."

In March, a jury of 13 pastors in Bothell, Wash., acquitted Dammann. But the Judicial Council, in a 6-3 vote Saturday, said homosexuality clearly violates Methodist law, and that such a violation could be cause for removal from church office.

It was unclear what action the high court could take in Dammann's case. Methodist law does not allow for an appeal in church trials. However, the council had retained jurisdiction over Dammann's case when it ordered Dammann to be tried, and traditionalists hope that will allow the council to revisit the case.

Dammann, reached by phone in Washington, said she would consult with her lawyer to learn what actions the Judicial Council could take.

"This thing just never ends," she said. "I'm disappointed. I can't believe it."

The Judicial Council is expected to rule sometime during the conference, which next convenes on Monday.

Dammann was put on trial after she told her bishop she was in a committed relationship with a woman. She married her partner in Portland, Ore., in March, after county officials there began allowing same-sex marriages.

SEATTLE - Thousands of people protested gay marriage at a rally Saturday at the city's baseball stadium, facing hundreds of chanting, shouting counterprotesters.

About 20,000 people attended the "Mayday for Marriage" worship service and rally, organized by conservative Christian churches around the state in support of heterosexual marriage, according to the event's marketing director, John Kelly. Police offered no estimate.

"This is a place where we're taking a stand," said James Dobson, founder of the evangelical Christian group Focus on the Family, told the crowd. "If this happens, the culture war is over and everything associated with it is lost."

The rally was slated as a worship service including music and a choir.

Between 2,500 and 3,000 gay rights protesters waved signs and chanted, "Bigots go home!" and tried to shout down the antigay marriage protesters. Arrivals had to walk between the counterprotesters to enter the stadium. One man was arrested, police said.

WASHINGTON - Supreme Court Justice David Souter was assaulted by at least two men Friday night while jogging alone in a southwest Washington neighborhood, police said, and was later treated at Washington Hospital Center for minor injuries and released.

Souter, 64, was apparently a random target, law enforcement officials said, and the case is not being investigated as politically motivated.

"I don't believe they knew who he was," District of Columbia Police Chief Charles Ramsey said Saturday.

Souter was apparently punched by at least one man during the brief encounter, and it is unknown if there were any witnesses. There have been no arrests, and detectives are investigating. Nearby residents reported no unusual activity that night.

Authorities said Souter went home after the assault and contacted the Supreme Court police, who took him to the hospital. He was released from the hospital about 1:30 a.m. Saturday.

Kathy Arberg, the court's spokeswoman, said that Souter was not robbed. "I can't say what the intent was," she said.

Souter, a frequent jogger, reportedly lives near the scene of the assault, and he has been seen at a neighborhood grocery store that is one block from there. He is among the most private of the justices, rarely making outside appearances.

ATLANTA - A computer glitch prevented Delta Air Lines flights from landing in Atlanta for about two hours Saturday, but the company was gradually restoring service at its main hub.

"We had ground-stopped all flights to Atlanta, but are slowly bringing them back up," Delta spokeswoman Liza Caceres said. "We hope to have the problem resolved shortly."

The glitch delayed nine flights from Tampa International Airport on Saturday afternoon, said Fred Dettmann, the airport's assistant director of operations. The flights were bound for a variety of locations, including Atlanta, New York and Los Angeles, Dettmann said; the average delay was one to two hours.

"This is not a safety or security issue," Caceres said.

CORSICANA, Texas - Two toddlers swept away in a stalled car were found dead Saturday, bringing to five the number of people killed in North Texas floods during weekend storms.

Police said the toddlers were in their father's car, which was swept away just after midnight Friday after it stalled on a bridge in Corsicana. The children's father was trying to pull them from the vehicle when it was carried away, police said.

The body of a man whose vehicle was swept against a guard rail by rising waters also was found Saturday. The vehicle's passenger got out safely, police said.

In Fort Worth, a woman and her 21/2-year-old son died Friday night after she tried to drive across a flooded road, said fire department spokesman Lt. Kent Worley. The woman's 11/2-year-old son, who was presumed dead, had not been found.

WASHINGTON - The National Zoo's giant pandas repeatedly attempted to mate Saturday, providing a rare spectacle to hundreds of amused spectators and raising hopes that a long-awaited panda pregnancy might result soon.

Zoo officials said Saturday that the female panda, Mei Xiang, was not yet ovulating but that she appeared to be on the brink of the annual one- to three-day period in which she could conceive.

"I would suspect something will happen" today or Monday, Assistant Curator Lisa Stevens said as she watched the black-and-white male, Tian Tian, repeatedly attempt to mount his mate.

Tian Tian and Mei Xiang, who are nearly 7 and 6, respectively, are at prime breeding age and mated for the first time last year, but no pregnancy resulted. The zoo has been trying for decades to produce a cub.

NEW YORK - Joseph F. Cullman III, the Philip Morris executive who became the cigarette industry's chief defender against the antitobacco movement, has died at the age of 92.

Mr. Cullman, who smoked for many years but eventually quit, died Friday (April 30, 2004) at a hospital, relatives said.

He retired as chairman and chief executive in 1978, but for years remained as chairman emeritus, lobbying legislators and defending cigarettes at Congressional hearings. In 1971, when the government banned cigarette advertising on television, Mr. Cullman said: "I do not believe that cigarettes are hazardous to one's health."

In response to a question about a study that found smoking mothers gave birth to smaller babies than nonsmoking mothers, he said: "Some women would prefer having smaller babies."

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