Thousands rally in Rome for traditional family

Rome

Hundreds of thousands of mothers, fathers, sons and daughters rallied Saturday to tell Italy that they alone should be counted as families, pressuring parliament to reject legislation that would grant new rights to unmarried and same-sex couples.

The "Family Day" rally was organized by lay Catholic groups and family associations. People from across Italy began pouring into the massive St. John Lateran piazza in the morning. The demonstrators were entertained by singers, speakers and even a brief video featuring the late John Paul II, in a 1988 speech about the need to protect family.

Premier Romano Prodi's Cabinet passed the legislation at the center of the debate in February, and the bill now requires parliamentary approval.

The proposed legislation would grant legal rights to unmarried couples who live together, including hospital visits and inheritance. It does not legalize gay marriage, as was done in other European countries, such as Spain.

Tabuk, Saudi Arabia

Cheney woos Saudis on Iraq strategy

Vice President Dick Cheney worked Saturday to overcome Saudi skepticism over the U.S. military strategy in Iraq.

Cheney met with King Abdullah at a royal palace in this northern city. The king, while considered an important U.S. ally in the Arab world, increasingly has sent signals that he doubts the effectiveness of President Bush's troop buildup in Iraq.

Abdullah also has signaled that he sees Iraqi President Nouri al-Maliki as a weak leader with too many ties to pro-Iranian Shiite parties to be effective in reaching out to Iraqi's Sunni minority. Saudi Arabia has a predominantly Sunni Muslim population.

Cheney is touring Saudi Arabia and the smaller Persian Gulf states in an attempt to win wider support for ethnic reconciliation in Iraq and to counter efforts by Iran to spread its influence in the region.

After a four-hour meeting with the king that included dinner, Cheney headed for Aqaba, Jordan, to spend the evening before meetings today. He was expected to visit Egypt later on a weeklong trip that began in Iraq.

Oranjestad, Aruba

Probe continues for missing teen

Dutch and Aruban investigators on Saturday went to the house of two brothers who were once suspects in the 2005 disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway, the Aruban prosecutors' office said.

The investigators conducted what they termed an "inspection" of the property where Surinamese brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe live with their parents, a spokeswoman for the prosecutors' office said. Nothing was seized from the home and no further details were released, the prosecutors' office said.

Holloway, from Mountain Brook, Ala., vanished during a school trip to the Dutch Caribbean island on May 30, 2005. She was last seen leaving a bar with the Kalpoe brothers and Joran van der Sloot, another former suspect.

Last month, investigators from the Netherlands dug up earth outside the home of van der Sloot.

Lucknow, India

27 die as storm levels buildings

A violent storm lashed northern India on Saturday, causing several buildings to collapse and leaving 27 people dead, officials said.

Twenty-four people were killed in the town of Sultanpur in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh when several were destroyed, while three others were killed by lightning in the neighboring town of Pratapgarh, police said.

Seattle Times news services