Nation, World Briefs: Arizona deputy shot after finding pot stash
Published 10:27 pm Friday, April 30, 2010
PHOENIX — Authorities have found a deputy wounded in a shootout with suspected drug smugglers after a frantic hour-long desert search. A Pinal County sheriff’s officer said the deputy suffered a superficial wound to his abdomen after being shot with an AK-47 assault rifle Friday afternoon. He was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Casa Grande, about 40 miles south of Phoenix. The officer said the deputy was doing smuggling interdiction work and found bales of marijuana in the desert. He then encountered five suspected illegal immigrants, two armed with rifles, and was shot.
Illinois: Obama subpoena
The judge overseeing the corruption case against former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has denied a defense motion to issue a subpoena for the testimony of President Barack Obama. The U.S. District judge in Chicago said Friday that he does not believe Obama’s testimony would be material to the charges. He said the defense motion fell “very short” of demonstrating a need to subpoena the president.
Nevada: Airliner tire blows
Federal aviation officials said a plane landed safely in Las Vegas after blowing a tire while taking off from Fresno, Calif. A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said Friday the Allegiant Air plane landed safely at McCarran International Airport after 5 p.m. with damage to an outer tire and the flaps on its right wing. He said the pilot declared an emergency after the tire blew and the plane landed “uneventfully.” Allegiant said no injuries were reported among the 139 passengers, five crew members and one FAA official aboard. Allegiant mainly flies Boeing MD-80 series aircraft.
Louisiana: Oil rig topples
Officials said an oil drilling rig on its way to a scrap yard has overturned in Louisiana. No injuries have been reported. The overturned rig is unrelated to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that threatens the coast’s fragile ecosystem. The Coast Guard said Friday that the rig overturned about 80 miles west-southwest of New Orleans. It can carry about 20,000 gallons of diesel fuel, but Coast Guard officials did not know how much fuel was on board. Coast Guard investigators say no fuel leaks have been found.
California: Skydiver dies
A skydiver from Russia has died after his parachute collapsed and he plunged to the ground during a group jump over Southern California. A Perris Valley Skydiving general manager said the man was about 50 feet above the ground when his parachute bumped another skydiver’s chute and collapsed Friday morning. The Riverside County Fire Department said the man was in full cardiac arrest when firefighters arrived at Perris Valley Airport and was taken to a hospital.
Britain: Paper’s endorsement
Britain’s left-leaning The Guardian newspaper, long sympathetic to the governing Labour Party, has thrown its support behind the opposition Liberal Democrats in next week’s national election. The paper’s backing is another blow to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the Labour Party chief who is struggling to avoid a humiliating third place finish in Britain’s general election on May 6. In an editorial published on its website Friday, The Guardian says the Liberal Democrats’ politics most closely match its own.
Tajikistan: Polio outbreak
Health officials will start a nationwide polio vaccination campaign Saturday in response to the first outbreak of the disease in the Central Asian country in over a decade. A deputy health minister said 32 cases of polio have been confirmed including one fatality, and the World Health Organization said it was testing more than 100 other suspected cases. The polio cases were among 171 people who had acute flaccid paralysis since January in southwest Tajikistan, a WHO spokeswoman said.
China: English language news
China’s biggest national news agency announced plans Friday to launch its global, English-language television news network this week, part of efforts to expand the communist government’s media influence abroad. Starting today, China Xinhua News Network Corp. (CNC) will begin trial broadcasts of its English TV service around the clock, including news segments, feature stories, weather updates and special bulletins, the news agency said. The channel is officially set to launch on July 1.
From Herald news services
