Three US soldiers were killed in Baghdad when their vehicle was hit by an explosive. Their names and locations were listed. In other news, the mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick, and his former chief of staff Christine Beatty were charged with eight and seven felonies respectively related to perjury and misconduct. Kilpatrick said he expects to be exonerated and will not resign. Additionally, the FBI recovered the remains of two American contractors kidnapped in Iraq over a year ago.

1. WORLDNATION
C
THE TIMES
TUESDAY
MARCH 25, 2008
LATEST
DEATHS
No new deaths
reported.
LATEST IDS
● Army Pvt. Tyler
J. Smith, 22,
Bethel, Maine; died
Friday of wounds
suffered from indi-
rect fire at Forward
Operating Base Fal-
con near Baghdad;
was assigned to
the 3rd Battalion,
7th Infantry Regi-
ment, 4th Brigade
Combat Team, 3rd
Infantry Division,
Fort Stewart, Ga.
● Three soldiers
were killed Satur-
day when their
vehicle was struck
by an explosive in
Baghdad. All were
assigned to
1132nd Military
Police Company,
North Carolina
Army National
Guard, Rocky
Mount, N.C. Killed
were Army Sgt.
Thomas C. Ray II,
40, Weaverville,
N.C.; Army Spc.
David S. Stelmat,
27, Littleton, N.H.;
and Army Sgt.
David B. Williams,
26, Tarboro, N.C.
WAR REPORT
F I G H T I N G F O R F O O D
If you're seeing your grocery bill go up, you're not alone. From subsistence farmers eating rice
in Ecuador to gourmets feasting on escargot in France, consumers worldwide face rising food
prices in what analysts call a perfect storm of conditions. Freak weather is a factor. But so are
dramatic changes in the global economy, including higher oil prices, lower food reserves and
growing consumer demand in China and India.
PAGE C4
IN POLITICS
Kevorkian announces
run for Congress
SOUTHFIELD, MICH. (AP) — Assisted-
suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian
says he is run-
ning for Con-
gress.
The 79-year-
old Kevorkian
has told
reporters in
Southfield,
Mich., that he is
running in the
November elec-
tion as an inde-
pendent for a
congressional seat representing
Detroit’s suburbs.
He faces incumbent Republican
Rep. Joe Knollenberg.
Kevorkian claims to have
helped at least 130 people die
from 1990 until 1998. He was con-
victed of second-degree murder in
one case and spent just over eight
years in prison.
Kevorkian has promised not to
help in any other assisted sui-
cides.
A TIBETAN
WOMAN cries
inside a police
van in
frustration after
a peace rally
being held
along with
Amnesty
International
was dispersed
by policemen in
Katmandu,
Nepal, on
Monday. Eleven
members of
Amnesty
International
along with their
country head
were also
detained.
AP/SAURABH DAS
Chanting “China, stop killings in Tibet.
U.N., we want justice,” protesters were
marching toward the U.N. offices in Kat-
mandu when police stopped them about 300
feet away, beat them with bamboo sticks and
snatched their banners. The protesters
demanded the U.N. investigate the recent
crackdown in Tibet by Chinese authorities.
Scores more who demonstrated in another
part of the capital were also arrested, the
U.N. human rights office in Nepal said in a
statement. Police official Sarad Karki said
about 245 were arrested in the Lalitpur area,
where the U.N. offices are located.
Nepal, which has good relations with
neighboring China, has said it will not allow
protests against any “friendly nation,”
including China, and has not issued any
statements on Beijing’s crackdown on anti-
Chinese protests in Tibet. —AP
AGONY OF UNREST
AP/MARK LENNIHAN
THE BEAR STEARNS headquarters, right, and the JP Morgan headquarters, left, are
shown on Monday in New York.
NEW YORK — JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s high-
er offer for Bear Stearns on Monday gave
the investment bank control of nearly 40
percent of its ailing rival, blunting the
threat that angry shareholders could scut-
tle the deal.
The $2.4 billion lifeline to rescue the
investment house stands a strong chance
of success — assuaging investors unhappy
with a $2 per share offer by upping it to $10
apiece. JPMorgan has faced an outcry
among Bear Stearns shareholders about
the lowball offer, and faced the possibility
that rival deals would begin to surface.
Most analysts said a higher bid was
unlikely, but some bondholders have
reportedly been buying the stock in order
to ensure their right to vote for a deal and
prevent a bankruptcy that would wipe
them out. Bear Stearns’ shares — which hit
$160 last year and still traded near $80 ear-
lier in the month — nearly doubled to
$11.25 on Monday.
However, for a company whose market
value went from $8.3 billion to about $1 bil-
lion in a little more than a week, the
Hamza Hendawi
and Qassim Abdul-Zahra
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITERS
BAGHDAD — Rocket attacks on the
U.S.-protected Green Zone may
carry a message with implications
across Iraq: rising anger within
the Mahdi Army militia.
The Shiite fighters led by anti-
American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr
are reorganizing their ranks, tak-
ing delivery of new weapons from
Iran and ramping up complaints
about crackdowns by U.S. and
Iraqi forces that could unravel the
Mahdi Army’s self-declared cease-
IRAQ PRESSURES MOUNTING
Mahdi Army: A volcano
of anger about to erupt
JPMorgan Chase raises offer
for Bear Stearns to $10 share KEVORKIAN
David Ashenfelter,
Joe Swickard and
Zachary Gorchow
DETROIT FREE PRESS
DETROIT — Wayne County, Mich.,
Prosecutor Kym Worthy charged
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick
and former
chief of staff
Christine Beat-
ty on Monday
with perjury,
obstruction,
conspiracy and
misconduct.
Kilpatrick said
that he expects
“full and com-
plete vindica-
tion.”
The mayor
spoke two hours
after Worthy
announced to a
packed news
conference that
she is charging
Kilpatrick with
eight felonies
and Beatty with
seven.
Kilpatrick,
reading from a
prepared state-
ment at a news
c o n f e r e n c e ,
said he is
“deeply disap-
pointed,” but
not surprised
by Worthy’s
decision.
“This has
been a very
flawed process from the begin-
ning,” he said. “I look forward to
complete exoneration once all the
facts in this matter have been
brought forth.”
The mayor’s attorney, Dan
Webb, said the mayor will be found
innocent of the charges and will
not resign. “This man, my client,
the mayor, is entitled to his day in
court,” he said. “If this man is
required to resign his office before
his jury trial, that means he’s going
to be punished before his day in
court.”
Webb said he has instructed Kil-
patrick to not respond to reporters’
questions. “We’re not going to try
this case in the press.”
Webb said he hoped the mayor
would be arraigned Monday, but
said a specific time and location
had not been reached.
“We’re ready to go,” he said.
“And we want to go to court today.”
But Webb said Worthy’s office
has yet to provide a copy of the
charges to him. And Webb said he
would seek to block what so far has
been the linchpin in the scandal —
the text messages exchanged
between Kilpatrick and Beatty —
from being introduced at the trial.
Mayor,
ex-aide
charged
PERJURY, CONSPIRACY,
MISCONDUCT ALLEGED
P
olice in Nepal’s capital
arrested about 475
Tibetan refugees, monks
and their supporters Monday as
they gathered to protest a
crackdown on Tibetans in
neighboring China, the U.N.
said.
WALL STREET
“This has
been a very
flawed
process
from the
beginning. I
look
forward to
complete
exoneration
once all the
facts in this
matter have
been
brought
forth.”
Mayor Kwame
Kilpatrick
See SHARE, Page C3
FBI RECOVERS REMAINS
OF 2 U.S. CONTRACTORS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Authorities have recovered the
remains of two U.S. contractors who were kidnapped in
Iraq more than a year ago, the FBI said Monday.
The men were among six Western contractors kid-
napped in separate incidents. Their disappearance
received new attention earlier this month when the sev-
ered fingers of several men were sent to the U.S. military
in Iraq.
The FBI identified the contractors Monday as Ronald
Withrow of Roaring Springs, Texas, and John Roy Young of
Kansas City, Mo.
Withrow worked for JPI Worldwide when he was kid-
napped in January 2007. Young worked for Crescent Secu-
rity Group when he was kidnapped in November 2006.See IRAQ, Page C2
TOTAL
U.S.
DEATHS
4,000
DEATHS
BY HOSTILE
ACTION
3,253