SAN DIEGO

Navy cargo ship christened in honor of Medgar Evers

The widow of Medgar Evers broke a bottle of champagne against the hull of a new Navy ship that has been named in honor of the slain civil rights leader.

Myrlie Evers was among 1,000 people who attended the christening of the USNS Medgar Evers on Saturday. The 689-foot cargo ship will deliver food, ammunition, fuel and other provisions to Navy combat ships at sea.

Evers, a World War II veteran and field secretary for the NAACP, was shot to death in 1963.

ATLANTA

Cain describes God telling him to run for president

Republican Herman Cain said God convinced him to enter the race for president, comparing himself to Moses: “‘You’ve got the wrong man, Lord. Are you sure?”‘

The Georgia business executive played up his faith Saturday after battling sexual harassment allegations for two weeks, trying to shift the conversation to religion, an issue vital to conservative Republicans, especially in the South.

In a speech Saturday to a national meeting of young Republicans, Cain said the Lord persuaded him after much prayer.

“That’s when I prayed and prayed and prayed. I’m a man of faith — I had to do a lot of praying for this one, more praying than I’ve ever done before in my life,” Cain said. “And when I finally realized that it was God saying that this is what I needed to do, I was like Moses. ‘You’ve got the wrong man, Lord. Are you sure?’ “

Once he made the decision, Cain said, he did not look back.

BERLIN

Thousands demonstrate against banks’ dominance

German police say more than 10,000 people are protesting against the banks’ dominance in two of the country’s major cities.

Police in Frankfurt, continental Europe’s financial hub, said some 9,000 people are peacefully protesting near the European Central Bank’s office tower in the city center.

Police in Berlin said demonstrators are forming a human chain surrounding parts of the capital’s government district to call for an end to excesses of financial speculation and urge the government to dismantle big banks.

Berlin police said “several thousand” people took to the streets Saturday, but organizers of the protest — which is inspired by New York’s Occupy Wall Street movement — said turnout was about 8,000 in Berlin and 10,000 in Frankfurt.

BELIZE CITY

Police question suspects after home invasion killing

Police in Belize have detained several people for questioning in the brutal slaying of a retired New Mexico chiropractor.

Police spokesman Sgt. Fitzroy Yearwood said 68-year-old Larry Johnson was killed during a home invasion at the Iguana Creek Resort he owned, 60 miles west of Belize City.

One of Johnson’s workers recalled seeing six masked men beating the retired chiropractor Wednesday night. The worker, Julio Funez, was slashed by a machete in the attack and told reporters the men tied both of them up in Johnson’s van and doused the vehicle with gasoline.

Johnson moved to Belize with his wife in 1993 after a dispute over taxes and bought the rainforest land where he built the resort, according to its website.

KABUL, Afghanistan

Conference will discuss partnership with U.S.

The Afghan government will hold a conference of national dialogue this week to discuss a partnership pact with the United States and proposed peace talks with the Taliban, officials said Saturday.

The traditional meeting of community leaders, known as “Loya Jirga,” will start Wednesday and will go on for five days, a spokeswoman for the conference said.

High on the agenda are negotiations between the United States and Afghanistan about a strategic partnership agreement to be finalized ahead of the planned withdraw of NATO forces in 2014.