Vincent `The Chin' Gigante, Convicted Of Racketeering

NEW YORK - Vincent "The Chin" Gigante, considered the last of New York's old-time Mafia dons, was convicted yesterday of racketeering, conspiring to murder other mobsters and running the Genovese crime family.

Gigante, 69, who faces a possible sentence of life in prison, looked up but showed no emotion as the verdict was read in Brooklyn federal court. He was given 24 hours to turn himself in at a federal prison hospital facility in Butner, N.C.

Defense attorneys claim Gigante has been incapacitated by mental illness and heart disease for many years and is incapable of running an organized crime family. He attended the trial in a wheelchair, often muttering to himself.

But prosecutors say he is a shrewd organized-crime boss who earned the nickname "The Oddfather" by faking illness in hopes of avoiding prosecution.

Canada grounds Boeing 707 that flew low over Miami

GANDER, Newfoundland - Canadian aviation officials have grounded the Boeing 707 that flew 100 feet over the streets of downtown Miami on Thursday before making the four-hour flight up the Atlantic coast.

After taking off from Miami International Airport, the jet climbed to about 1,000 feet, then it dropped to below 100 feet, so low that people on the ground could see the rivets on its belly.

Officials of Transport Canada questioned the plane's three-man flight crew yesterday. They also planned to inspect the jet for mechanical problems.

The plane is registered in Liberia and owned by Jet Aviation Components & Aircraft Leasing, based in Canada. It had been leased by a Belgian company, Shuttle Transporteur.

The plane was being ferried empty to Africa by way of Majorca, Spain, officials said. It had stopped in Gander only to refuel. It had been mothballed at Miami International for nearly two years.

"I don't know if there was a violation, but clearly there was a problem on takeoff," said Kathleen Bergen, U.S. Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman. "We want to make sure we know what happened."

Episcopal Church apologizes to homosexuals for rejection

PHILADELPHIA - The Episcopal Church officially apologized to gays and lesbians yesterday for "years of rejection and maltreatment by the church."

The apology came at the end of the 2.4 million-member denomination's 10-day General Convention, where the apology passed overwhelmingly in both the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies.

During the convention, the denomination voted to study blessing same-sex unions, agreed to extend insurance benefits to domestic partners, voted down attempts to prohibit sexually active gay clergy and elected a presiding bishop sympathetic to gay and lesbian concerns.

GM, auto workers union agree on new contract

DETROIT - General Motors and the United Auto Workers reached a tentative agreement last night on a new contract to end a parts plant strike that had idled four assembly plants in Michigan and Canada.

UAW officials said details of the agreement will not be released until a ratification vote tomorrow by the 2,800 hourly workers at the GM Powertrain Group transmission plant in Warren, Mich.

The union was seeking more workers to ease overtime and what it called chronic understaffing at the plant that makes front-drive transmissions, wheels and suspension parts for many of GM's cars and trucks. It supplies every one of GM's North American assembly plants, except the Saturn factory in Spring Hill, Tenn.

The strike began at midnight Tuesday and idled a total of 19,300 workers.