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'Piano Man' goes home to Germany

By Times wire
Published August 23, 2005

An institutionalized drifter known as the "Piano Man" for his musical performances in a British hospital has been identified as a 20-year-old from Germany, officials said Monday. The man, above, who loved to play the hospital chapel's piano is from Bavaria, and he was flown home Saturday, the German government said. His name and other details were not disclosed. The Piano Man was found in southern England on April 7.

NOTEWORTHY

Coast Guard seeks 31 missing Cubans

The Coast Guard searched the Florida Straits on Monday after three Cubans rescued at sea said they had been aboard a boat that sank with 31 others aboard. The three were rescued Sunday about 30 miles north of Matanzas, Cuba, by a merchant ship and taken back to Cuba. The Coast Guard said it found a capsized boat about 16 miles from where the trio were found, but it could not be determined if it was the Cubans' boat.

U.S. indicts 87 in smuggling plot

Federal authorities have indicted 87 Asians and U.S. citizens on charges of smuggling counterfeit money, drugs and cigarettes into the United States, law enforcement officials said Monday. The charges resulted from an undercover investigation that led to the seizure of cargo containers filled with contraband in ports in Los Angeles and Newark, N.J., officials said. Authorities seized $3.3-million in counterfeit U.S. currency.

UPDATE

King memorial

Supporters of a permanent memorial in Washington to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said Monday they are more than a third of the way toward their $100-million fundraising goal. With $39.5-million committed, officials hope to raise another $27-million by the September 2006 groundbreaking.

Sept. 11 claims

The Pentagon has been unable to validate claims that a secret intelligence unit identified Sept. 11 hijacker Mohamed Atta as a terrorist more than a year before the attacks, a Defense Department spokesman said Monday. Larry Di Rita said that research into the matter continues, but so far there has been no evidence that the intelligence unit came up with information as specific as an officer associated with the program has asserted.

[Last modified August 23, 2005, 02:45:30]