Massachusetts

Bishop resigns after abuse accusation

Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Dupre resigned Wednesday, citing health problems. But the move coincided with a newspaper story containing allegations the cleric molested two boys.

The Springfield newspaper, The Republican, quoted a woman as saying her son and another boy were sexually abused by Dupre when he was a parish priest in the 1970s. The newspaper did not identify the woman or the alleged victims.

The story was posted Wednesday on the newspaper’s Web site; the paper had confronted Dupre about the allegations Tuesday.

Monsignor Richard Sniezyk issued a statement saying he was unaware of allegations against Dupre, who he said was hospitalized.

The 70-year-old Dupre’s resignation, which was accepted by the Vatican, came about five years before the typical retirement age of 75. He headed the diocese of about 260,000 Catholics that encompasses the state’s four western counties since May 1995.

California

Weather interrupts planned rover sprint

Cold on Mars forced NASA to keep its Spirit rover parked for a day, interrupting a planned monthlong drive to a nearby crater, the space agency said Wednesday.

NASA could not send commands to Spirit late Tuesday because the cold prevented the rover from rotating a high-gain antenna toward Earth. The rover’s motors, used to position the antenna, were under a frigid shadow.

“It’s very similar to starting your car on a cold day,” said project manager Pete Theisinger.

NASA routinely warms the motors by passing an electric current through them. However, engineers had not set the current limit high enough to compensate for the lower-than-normal temperature of the shaded motors.

The space agency got the antenna pointing in the right direction later in the day. By then, it was too late to continue the journey.

Temperatures on Mars can reach minus 100, which is about the coldest it gets at the South Pole.

Philadelphia

Student, crossing guard wounded by gunfire

A 9-year-old boy was shot in the face on a school playground Wednesday and a crossing guard was wounded, caught apparently in the crossfire between two groups of men, police said.

Children were arriving for class and some were playing in the schoolyard when dozens of shots rang out about 8:30 a.m., police said. Youngsters ran screaming toward the building as teachers and parents frantically tried to pull them inside to safety.

Police searched for the gunmen and a gray Lincoln Continental.

The third-grader, Faheem Thomas-Childs, underwent brain surgery and was reported in extremely critical condition. The crossing guard, Debra Smith, 56, was treated for a wound to the right foot.

The victims were apparently caught in the crossfire as two men in a car and three men on the sidewalk shot at each other, police said.

Cleveland

Gynecologist guilty of raping patients

A gynecologist was convicted Wednesday of raping or otherwise molesting patients during examinations.

At trial, 33 women testified that Dr. Azzam Ahmed sexually abused them in his office.

After five days of deliberations, the jury found the doctor guilty of two counts of rape, seven of sexual battery and 11 of sexual imposition. He was acquitted on 33 other counts.

Ahmed, 57, faces three to 10 years in prison on each rape charge and one to five years on each count of sexual battery.