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ready to enter a dialogue. Pope Benedict XVI, visiting Angola, condemned sexual violence against women in Africa and chided those countries on the continent that approved abortion.
• One year ago: Making his first visit to Israel since taking office, President Barack Obama affirmed Israel's sovereign right to defend itself from any threat and vowed to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Five former elected officials of Bell, Calif., were convicted of misappropriating public funds by paying themselves huge salaries while raising taxes on residents; one defendant was acquitted. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signed bills that put sweeping new restrictions on sales of firearms and ammunition. Rise (REE'-suh) Stevens, 99, a mezzo-soprano who sang with the Metropolitan Opera for more than 20 years spanning the 1940s and 1950s, died in New York.
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• Today's Birthdays: Singer Dame Vera Lynn is 97. Producer-director-comedian Carl Reiner is 92. Actor Hal Linden is 83. Former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney (muhl-ROO'-nee) is 75. Country singer Don Edwards is 75. TV producer Paul Junger Witt is 71. Country singer-musician Ranger Doug (Riders in the Sky) is 68. Hockey Hall-of-Famer Bobby Orr is 66. Blues singer-musician Marcia Ball is 65. Actor William Hurt is 64. Rock musician Carl Palmer (Emerson, Lake and Palmer) is 64. Rock musician Jimmie Vaughan is 63. Country musician Jimmy Seales (Shenandoah) is 60. Actress Amy Aquino (ah-KEE'-noh) is 57. Movie director Spike Lee is 57. Actress Theresa Russell is 57. Actress Vanessa Bell Calloway is 57. Actress Holly Hunter is 56. Rock musician Slim Jim Phantom (The Stray Cats) is 53. Actress-model-designer Kathy Ireland is 51. Actor David Thewlis is 51. Rock musician Adrian Oxaal (James) is 49. Actress Jessica Lundy is 48. Actress Liza Snyder is 46. Actor Michael Rapaport is 44. Actor Alexander Chaplin is 43. Rock singer Chester Bennington (Linkin Park) is 38. Actor Michael Genadry is 36. Actress Bianca Lawson is 35. Rock musician Nick Wheeler (The All-American Rejects) is 32. Actor Michael Cassidy is 31. Actress-singer Christy Carlson Romano is 30.
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• Thought for Today: "Spring makes everything young again except man." - Jean Paul Richter, German author (1763-1825).
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