Nevada: Glitch sidetracks monorail
The $650 million Las Vegas Monorail was shut down Wednesday after a mechanical problem caused a wheel to come off one of the cars, a company spokesman said. Nobody was injured in the incident, which happened as a train was traveling north toward the Las Vegas Convention Center, he said. The monorail follows a Z-shaped, 3.9-mile route behind the Las Vegas Strip, stretching from the MGM Grand to the Sahara hotel-casino.
Hua Mei, the giant panda born five years ago at the San Diego Zoo, has given birth to twins in her ancestral China, another hopeful sign for efforts to revive the endangered species, zoo officials said Wednesday. Mother and cubs were reportedly in good shape at the Woolong Giant Panda Protection Research Center in Sichuan province in the hours after the birth. The cubs weigh about 4 ounces each. Hua Mei, one of the most popular animals in the history of the San Diego Zoo, was transferred to Woolong in February.
Wyoming: Accident death toll rises
Two weeks after a series of fiery chain collisions on a fog-shrouded highway, authorities raised their estimated death toll from four to seven on Monday. The number, based on recovered remains and people still reported missing, could change based on DNA tests. Results were expected in the next week, the Albany County coroner said. Heat intense enough to melt asphalt complicated attempts to recover remains and vehicles and determine what happened Aug. 19 on Interstate 80 near Laramie.
D.C.: Military gear will go to Yemen
Praising Yemen as a partner in the war on terror, the Bush administration has approved the sale of military equipment to the country after more than a decade of a nearly total ban. Delivery of spare parts for C-130 cargo planes was approved last week, which followed a recent decision to permit Yemen to purchase parts for F-5 fighter jets, a State Department spokesman said. Yemen long has been a haven for Muslim extremists.
From Herald news services
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