Nation, World Briefs: Massive turnout for police funeral
Published 10:42 pm Friday, March 27, 2009
OAKLAND, Calif. — Mourners jammed the 19,000-seat Oracle Arena in Oakland on Friday to pay their respects to four Oakland police officers killed by a parolee after a routine traffic stop turned into a manhunt and gun battle. Hundreds of law enforcement personnel and government officials from across the United States and Canada joined family and friends of the slain officers. The entire 800-strong Oakland police force attended, wearing black tape stretched diagonally across their badges. Many sniffed back tears.
Kansas: Abortion bill signed
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has signed a bill ensuring that clinics give women and girls seeking abortions a chance to see ultrasound images before performing the procedure. The legislation was signed Friday and takes effect July 1. It also requires clinics to offer abortion patients a chance to listen to the fetal heartbeat. Sebelius signed the measure as she awaits U.S. Senate confirmation as federal Health and Human Services secretary. Anti-abortion groups in Washington have criticized her nomination because she supports abortion rights.
Texas: Teaching evolution
State education leaders forged a compromise Friday on the teaching of evolution in Texas, adopting a new science curriculum that no longer requires educators to teach the weaknesses of all scientific theories. The State Board of Education voted 13-2 to put in place a plan that would instead require teachers to encourage students to scrutinize “all sides” of scientific theories, a move criticized by evolution proponents. The state of Texas, one of the largest textbook purchasers in the nation, has significant influence over the content of books marketed across the country.
Georgia: CNN slips to third
CNN is poised to set a standard it would have preferred avoiding: When the March ratings period ends today, CNN is likely to finish third in prime-time for the first time since it pioneered the cable news genre three decades ago. Fox News Channel is way out in front. But now MSNBC’s opinionated lineup of Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow is slipping past CNN into second. CNN said its overall business is healthy and the ratings will not let it stray from its straight news path.
Rhode Island: Fiery death
Investigators say a 15-year-old boy who died in a fire at his family’s home liked to play with fire and was storing containers of gasoline in his bedroom. High school freshman Kyle Mather died in the March 16 fire in Cranston. The fire was contained to his bedroom. Vapors escaping from the gas containers may have sparked the blaze. The teen’s mother and sister escaped with minor injuries.
New York: Tequila is kosher
A New York businessman is launching a new kosher tequila in time for Cinco de Mayo. Martin Silver said Agave 99 will be on the market in time for the holiday that celebrates Mexico’s defeat of French forces on May 5, 1862. Silver said he wants to satisfy the craze for high-end tequila with one that observant Jews can drink. He said a half million cases of the 99-proof kosher tequila are being produced at a Mexican plant using methods certified by a rabbi. It will retail for $41.95 a bottle.
Yemen: Al-Qaida responsible
The militant group al-Qaida in the Arab Peninsula is reportedly claiming responsibility for an attack earlier this month in Yemen that killed four South Korean tourists and their Yemeni driver. The organization said the attack was intended to force the South Koreans out of Arab lands and to avenge the killing of al-Qaida operatives in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yemeni authorities have said al-Qaida was behind the bombing. Yemen, the ancestral home of Osama bin Laden, has long been home to Islamic extremists in its remote hinterland.
China: Disease kills children
Chinese health officials said Friday that hand, foot and mouth disease has sickened 41,000 people across the country and killed 18 children so far this year. The outbreak appears more widespread than in recent years with around twice the number of people infected than during the same period last year. Hand, foot and mouth disease is characterized by fever, mouth sores and a rash with blisters. It is spread by direct contact with nose and throat discharges, saliva, fluid from blisters, or the stool of infected persons.
From Herald news services
