In the news

Nabih Berri, Lebanon’s Parliament speaker, vowed to hold high- level talks to try to end political gridlock that has been a target of anti- government protests since the government closed a major landfill without opening an alternative, causing garbage to pile up in Beirut, the capital.

Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, called for securing all of the United States’ borders, saying on NBC’s Meet the Press that he has heard on the campaign trail “some very legitimate concerns” about security at the border with Canada as well as with Mexico.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a Democratic candidate for president, said on ABC’s This Week that he believes the U. S. should have the world’s strongest military, though force should be used as a last resort when sanctions and international pressure won’t work.

Miyuki Harwood, 62, who was rescued after being stranded for nine days in California’s Sierra Nevada, is in good spirits but has asked for “uninterrupted rest and quiet” while she recovers from surgery to set the broken bones in her left leg, her family said.

Michael Desaedeleer, a businessman with dual American- Belgian citizenship, was arrested by Spanish authorities on international charges of enslavement and pillaging “blood diamonds” during Sierra Leone’s civil war, according to Civitas Maxima, a legal- aid group.

Elinor Dempsey, 54, of Los Osos, Calif., escaped injury at Morro Strand State Beach when a great white shark took a 14- inch- wide bite out of her surfboard, giving her time to jump off the board and get to shore with the help of several other surfers.

Tabatha Lawson, 49, a teacher at John Valley Middle School in Birmingham, Ala., was arrested and charged with theft of property, accused of stealing iPads and a large- screen TV and selling the electronics at several area pawnshops.

Jordan Toner, 29, of Hampden, Maine, was issued a distracted driving summons by state police after, they say, he ran off the road and crashed into a tree while taking a selfie with some of the seven passengers in his car.

Les Gold, a pawnshop owner, told Detroit’s WWJ radio that he has sold to TV paranormal investigator Zak Bagans for more than $ 30,000 the 1968 Volkswagen van used by assistedsuicide advocate Jack Kevorkian.