USA

The Los Angeles Times fired editor James O'Shea because of his refusal to make $4 million in budget cuts ordered by management, the newspaper said Sunday. O’Shea, whose predecessor was forced out for similar reasons, lasted just 14 months after arriving from the Chicago Tribune.

Pointing to a rise in accidental deaths and injuries on New York high-rise construction sites, safety experts are raising questions about whether all necessary precautions are being taken. The number of accidents on projects 15 stories or higher more than doubled last year, leading to five deaths and 52 injuries, city building records show.

With the help of two congressmen and family members, the late Booker Townsell, who was wrongfully convicted in a World War II court-martial of 43 black soldiers, received military honors at his Milwaukee grave site over the weekend. The Army apologized and set aside the convictions in an Italian POW's death at Fort Lawton in Seattle.

The Coast Guard shut down a 10-mile stretch of the Mississippi River to boat traffic over the weekend for about five hours after a towboat struck a sunken replica of the 17th-century warship Le Pelican near Donaldsonville, La.

A Denny's restaurant in Seattle is expected to receive historic landmark status when a city board examines the nomination Feb. 7, according to the Los Angeles Times. If the designation is approved, the structure built in 1964 would become the first of the chain's more than 1,500 outlets to be so recognized.

By securing NFL conference championships Sunday, the New England Patriots (18-0) and New York Giants (13-6) advanced to Super Bowl XLII in Glendale, Ariz., on Feb. 3. In the last game of the regular season, New England beat the Giants, 38-35. On Sunday, the Patriots defeated San Diego, 21-12, as New York recorded its 10th straight road victory by beating Green Bay in sub-zero temperatures, 23-20, in overtime. Above, the Giants' Michael Strahan kissed the Halas Trophy awarded to the National conference champs.