Washington

Two climbers rescued; little hope for third

A helicopter rescued two stranded climbers from Mount Rainier on Saturday, two days after they called for help, but rangers held out little hope for a third man missing since an accident that killed his partner.

The two stranded climbers, Al Hancock and Bruce Penn, had been descending the difficult Liberty Ridge route along the north side of the 14,411-foot peak when they reported they were unhurt but “in over their heads,” said Mike Gauthier, supervisory climbing ranger at Mount Rainier National Park.

Ansel Vizcaya, 29, from the Missoula, Mont., area and his climbing partner, Luke Casady, 29, of Stevensville, Mont., also had been attempting the Liberty Ridge route. Casady’s body was recovered Friday. Rangers will continue searching for Vizcaya by helicopter, although Gauthier said it was unlikely Vizcaya was still alive.

Dallas

Paper: Priests shuffled even after abuse scandal

An international movement of Roman Catholic priests out of countries where they have been accused of abusing children has continued even after the abuse scandal that swept the U.S. church in 2002, The Dallas Morning News found in a yearlong investigation.

Hundreds of priests accused of abuse have been moved from country to country, allowing them to start new lives in unsuspecting communities and continue working in church ministries, the newspaper reported in today’s editions.

The priests lead parishes, teach and continue to work in settings that bring them into contact with children, despite church claims to the contrary, the newspaper said.

Vatican officials declined to comment Friday after an overview of the investigation was featured on National Public Radio.

New York City

9-11 survivor among Olympic torch runners

Crowds cheered across New York’s five boroughs Saturday as the Olympic torch made a 34-mile journey through the city, which was recently named as one of five finalists to stage the 2012 Summer Games.

After a ceremony at a park in Queens, gold-medal-winning long jumper Bob Beamon began the torch’s tour, holding the Olympic flame aloft as hundreds of spectators in the nation’s most heavily Greek-American neighborhood cheered wildly, waving Greek flags.

Among other scheduled torch carriers were mogul Donald Trump; Lauren Manning, a senior vice president of Cantor Fitzgerald who survived the Sept. 11 attacks; and wheelchair-bound photorealist painter Chuck Close.

New York City

Clinton: Terrorism could make Iraqis’ lives worse

Terrorism festering in Iraq could make the lives of Iraqis worse than they had been under Saddam Hussein, former President Bill Clinton said in a “60 Minutes” interview to be broadcast today.

Asked whether he agrees with President Bush that removing Saddam from power has made the world safer from terrorism, Clinton said, “I think the Iraqis are better off with Saddam gone, if they can have a stable government.

“There have been more terrorists move into Iraq in the aftermath of the conflict. I still believe, as I always have, that the biggest terrorist threat by far is al-Qaida and the al-Qaida network,” Clinton said in the CBS interview.

Clinton also said it was a mistake for the Bush administration to invade Iraq before United Nations weapons inspectors finished their work.