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The Nation

Ferry crash: The Andrew J. Barberi, a Staten Island, N.Y., ferry with a history of accidents, including a fatal wreck in 2003, malfunctioned as it approached its terminal Saturday and smashed into a pier with a jolt that tossed passengers to the deck and hurt up to 37 people. The ferry was carrying 252 passengers and 18 crew members when it rammed the St. George Ferry Terminal pier.

Arkansas commencement: First lady Michelle Obama told graduates of the University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff, on Saturday to prepare to overcome adversity. In her speech to the 270 graduates, she referenced the legacy of the historically black school, which opened in 1873 with seven students, most of whom could barely read. "Let's just imagine how those seven students would feel if they could see you here today," Mrs. Obama said.

Apartment fire: A fire at an apartment building near downtown Los Angeles injured 13 people Saturday, including a woman who jumped from a window and a 2-year-old girl who suffered third-degree burns, authorities said. All people were expected to survive, officials said.

The World

Costa Rica inauguration: Laura Chinchilla vowed to protect the environment, crack down on organized crime and attract investment for an economic rebound as she was sworn in Saturday in San Jose as Costa Rica's first female president. Chinchilla, 51, of the ruling National Liberation Party, won the Feb. 7 election with 46.9 percent of the vote.

Pirate hijackings: Somali pirates armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic guns hijacked a chemical tanker off East Africa with 22 crew members on board, the European Union Naval force said Saturday. The ship -- the Marida Marguerite -- was heading from India to Belgium. Also Saturday, Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said a Taiwanese fishing boat was hijacked off the Somali coast by pirates who demanded a ransom for the crew.

Anti-gay bill: A special committee organized by the president of Uganda has recommended an anti-homosexuality bill be withdrawn from Parliament, a senior government official said Saturday. Among other things, the bill calls for homosexuals to be executed in some cases.

Odds & Ends

Twitter star: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is tops on Twitter in Venezuela less than two weeks after launching his account, surpassing Internet-savvy foes who dominate the social-networking site and use it to oppose him. Chavez's account, "chavezcandanga," had racked up more than 237,000 followers as of Saturday, besting the 234,000 who receive tweets from Globovision, the only TV channel that remains critical of the socialist leader. The president joined Twitter on April 27 in an attempt to counter adversaries who have actively used the site to make accusations of human-rights violations, organize protests and -- above all -- ridicule Chavez.

Royal operation: King Juan Carlos of Spain successfully underwent lung surgery to remove a small benign growth, doctors said Saturday. The 72-year-old monarch had a two-hour operation in a hospital in Barcelona, Dr. Laureano Molins Lopez-Rodo said. "It's good news; the lesion is benign," the doctor said of the tissue removed from the upper part of the king's right lung.

Today in history

1754: A cartoon in Benjamin Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette showed a snake cut in pieces, with each part representing an American colony; the caption read, "JOIN, or DIE."

1936: Italy annexed Ethiopia.

1961: FCC Chairman Newton Minow decried the majority of television programming as a "vast wasteland" in a speech to the National Association of Broadcasters.

1980: 35 people were killed when a freighter, the Summit Venture, rammed the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay in Florida, causing a 1,400-foot section of the southbound span to collapse.

1994: South Africa's newly elected Parliament chose Nelson Mandela to be the country's first black president.

Birthdays

CBS News correspondent Mike Wallace, 92. Actor-writer Alan Bennett, 76. Actress-turned-politician Glenda Jackson, 74. Producer-director James L. Brooks, 70.Actress Candice Bergen, 64. Singer Billy Joel, 61. Actress Wendy Crewson, 54. Actor John Corbett, 49. Actress Rosario Dawson, 31. Actress Rachel Boston, 28. TV personality Audrina Patridge, 25.

Seattle Times news services

CAPTION(S):

Robert Mecea / The Associated Press : A New York City firefighter assesses a victim in a triage area in the Staten Island Ferry terminal in Staten Island, N.Y., on Saturday after a ferry crashed into a pier. Authorities said up to 37 people were injured, one seriously. (0412458074)

Michelle Obama (0412461757)

King Juan Carlos (0412455809)

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