An Alabama death row inmate has died in prison without getting the retrial he sought 18 years ago for his case. Shep Wilson Jr. , 50, of Talladega County, succumbed to liver failure due to hepatitis C on June 12 at the infirmary of the William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer. He was buried by his family on Tuesday.

After his diplomatic faux pas in Afghanistan which revealed Canadian meddling into Afghan internal politics, Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier is hogging the headlines again. This time over a former girlfriend who has been linked to a biker gang. Bernier's ex was Julie Couillard, a former model and aspiring actress, who had relationships with two men linked with the Hells Angels biker gang.

Pope Benedict XVI publicly baptized on Monday an Egyptian-born Muslim journalist, known for his renunciation of Islamic beliefs. The traditional Easter vigil service held on Monday at St. Peter's Basilica, marked the beginning of 55-year-old Magdi Allam's life as a Roman Catholic, after he admitted that he has been a non-practicing Muslim all his adult life. Taking "Christian" for his middle name, Allam, a deputy director for the Italian newspaper, Corriere della Sera, wrote in an article, "I had to do this. Beyond extremists and Islamist terrorism at the global level, the root of evil is inherent in a physiologically violent and historically conflictual Islam. "

After the family of a 14-year-old groom canceled his wedding to a 12-year-old bride a fight broke out between the two families of Gypsies in Romania. That event caused about 200 people to fight each other with fists, knives swords and guns in the Romanian village of Sinesti, where 12 people were injured - but no one was killed. Although the bridal couple was too young to marry even under Romania's relaxed age law for gypsies, the gypsies, or Roma, believe that children should marry when they reach puberty. In Romania it is legal for gypsy children to marry at age 16 with parental permission, while the normal legal age for marriage there is 18.

A murder suspect on Monday evening managed to grab the firearm of his arresting officer, point the gun at the officer's head and pull the trigger. When the weapon failed to fire, authorities say alleged murderer Alberto de Asis Jr. proceeded to beat officer Fernando Carlos of the Pasay City Police Department with the pistol. The incident, which took place at a police station in Manila, was quickly ended after Carlos' partner, Police Officer Jonathan Moreno arrived and subdued de Asis.