Nation in brief: Group sues to stop mosque at 9/11 site

New York – The debate over a planned Islamic community center and mosque near ground zero became a court fight Wednesday, as a conservative advocacy group sued to try to stop a project that has become a fulcrum for balancing religious freedom and the legacy of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The American Center for Law and Justice, founded by the Rev. Pat Robertson, filed suit Wednesday to challenge a city panel’s decision to let developers tear down a building to make way for the mosque two blocks from ground zero.

The city Landmarks Preservation Commission moved too fast in making a decision, underappreciated the building’s historic value and “allowed the intended use of the building and political considerations to taint the deliberative process,” lawyer Brett Joshpe wrote in papers filed in a Manhattan state court. The Washington, D.C.-based group represents a firefighter who responded to and survived the terrorist attack at the World Trade Center.

New York – Rudy Giuliani’s daughter was arrested Wednesday on a misdemeanor shoplifting charge at a beauty supplies store after she was seen on security video pocketing makeup, police said.

Caroline Giuliani, a 20-year-old Harvard University student, was seen taking five items worth more than $100 at a Sephora store in Manhattan, New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said.

Store managers, after calling police, said they didn’t want to press charges against her, Browne said. But police arrested her on a petty larceny charge, he said.

Rudy Giuliani, through a spokeswoman, said the case was a personal matter and asked the media to respect his daughter’s privacy.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office had not decided whether to file formal charges against Caroline Giuliani. She’s due in court Aug. 31.

Two killed after barn collapses

Croton, Ohio – Winds reaching 70 mph knocked over three barns being renovated Wednesday at the state’s largest egg farm, killing two workers, authorities said.

Two construction workers who were laying concrete blocks at Ohio Fresh Eggs were killed in one of the barns, said Bill Schwaderer, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Agriculture. Three other workers escaped with minor injuries.

Strong winds also blew down a 10-foot-high brick wall at a school construction site in Edgerton, near the Ohio-Indiana state line, killing a worker.