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Noteworthy

By TIMES WIRES
Published May 3, 2006

Tip leads to capture of sex offender

A tip prompted by a segment on a national television program led to the arrest Tuesday of a sex offender who escaped from a state facility with three other men who sawed their way to freedom, authorities said. Michael Dale Benson, classified a Level 3 offender for those deemed most likely to re-offend, was caught without incident in Kansas City, Mo., after a tip from someone who had seen a description of him on America's Most Wanted, authorities said. "This tip was absolutely crucial for catching him when we did," said Michael Tabman, special agent in charge of the Minneapolis FBI office. Authorities said Benson, 42, and three others escaped from the St. Peter Regional Treatment Center on April 15 after sawing through a metal bar on a security window. The three other men were quickly arrested.

Benson pleaded guilty in 1989 to first-degree criminal sexual conduct in a rape in Douglas County. He served prison time before being civilly committed to the sex offender program in St. Peter in 1993.

French leader says he won't step down

His popularity nearing record lows, French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin on Tuesday rejected demands that he resign over accusations that he used spy services to smear a top rival. Villepin endured angry debate Tuesday in the National Assembly over allegations that he tried to implicate Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, the center-right government's leading presidential hopeful, in a case in which politicians and executives were falsely accused of holding secret bank accounts. Villepin has denied any wrongdoing, and one of the key investigators backed his version Tuesday. With a year left until presidential elections, doubts increased about the survival of a government already staggered by riots in immigrant housing projects in November and student protests that scuttled a proposed labor reform last month.

UPDATE

Moussaoui trial

Jurors in the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui completed their sixth day of deliberations Tuesday without deciding whether the Sept. 11 conspirator should be executed or sentenced to life in prison. The nine men and three women went home after 6¾ hours of work Tuesday, bringing their total deliberations so far to 35¼ hours. They are to return today. Meanwhile, a transcript unsealed Tuesday revealed that the jurors decided to knock off work early this week - at 1:15 p.m. Thursday - so one juror can attend his parents' 50th wedding anniversary out of state and another juror can attend his daughter's induction into the National Junior Honor Society.

Mideast talks

Israeli leader Ehud Olmert plans to meet moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas after visiting Washington, an Israeli official said Tuesday - a nod to Abbas' position that contacts need not be cut off because of the Hamas takeover of the Palestinian government. The official said no date has been set for the summit, the first since Hamas won parliamentary elections in January. Israel insists it won't talk to the militants sworn to its destruction, and it was not clear if using Abbas to bypass Hamas could lead to a resumption of Mideast peace talks.

[Last modified May 3, 2006, 07:16:12]