NEWSLINE

Togo urges refugees who fled violence to return

LOME - Reuters Togo's government on Thursday urged thousands of people who fled riots in the West African nation after last month's disputed presidential elections to return home.  The call, agreed in a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, was read out on state radio a day after Faure Gnassingbe was sworn in as president, succeeding his father Gnassingbe Eyadema who ruled the former French colony for almost four decades.  "The government invites all those who were forced to cross the borders to return home in all tranquility. Measures have been taken to avoid a repetition of the violence and to guarantee security," the statement said.  Gnassingbe's victory in April 24 elections sparked violent protests by opposition supporters who said the vote was rigged, and heavy-handed repression by security forces. Western diplomats say some 100 people were killed in the capital Lome and other towns.

Prosecution wraps up case in Jackson trial

SANTA MARIA - The Associated PressProsecutors rested their case in the Michael Jackson trial after more than two months of dramatic testimony in which they sought to prove that the pop star molested a teenage cancer patient and conspired to hold the boy's family captive at his fairy-tale estate. The defense immediately filed a motion seeking acquittal on grounds the prosecution did not prove its case. Judge Rodney S. District Attorney Tom Sneddon closed his case Wednesday pending the judge's decisions on whether to admit various items that had been shown to the jury but had not yet been formally entered into evidence.