Nation, World Briefs: Indiana, North Carolina will cast their votes today
Published 10:32 pm Monday, May 5, 2008
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — On a final, fevered day of campaigning, Sen. Barack Obama looked to voters in Indiana and North Carolina to reverse a string of defeats in key states, while Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton fought to keep her improbable comeback hopes alive with a pair of strong showings. Sensing momentum in a state she was once expected to lose handily, Clinton spent part of Monday campaigning in North Carolina, where she championed her proposal to suspend the federal gas tax for the summer, promised to take on oil companies over alleged price gouging, and pledged a return to the economic progress of the 1990s.
Arkansas: 11 tornadoes confirmed
Meteorologists have confirmed 11 tornadoes hit Arkansas late last week. One of them had winds between 136 and 165 mph and stayed on the ground for 45 miles. Meteorologists with the National Weather Service in North Little Rock say the long-lasting tornado was classified an E-F3. It touched down near Birdtown in Conway County and continued through Van Buren and Cleburne counties. Friday’s tornadoes killed seven people and damaged or destroyed about 400 homes.
Pennsylvania: ‘Hazel’ cartoonist dies
Ted Key, the magazine cartoonist who created the bossy but lovable maid Hazel in the 1940s and later created the time-traveling Mr. Peabody and Sherman of “Rocky and Bullwinkle” TV cartoon fame, has died. He was 95. Key died Saturday at his home in Tredyffrin Township, Pa., his son said. “Hazel” was turned into a popular situation comedy in 1961, starring Shirley Booth in the title role.
New York: Renovation for U.N.
The United Nations is kicking off the long-delayed renovation of its landmark headquarters complex. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon broke ground Monday on the compound’s north lawn for a temporary conference and office building. Ban said the renovation of the 56-year-old complex will mark the rebirth of the U.N. headquarters. He says it will emerge safer, more modern, greener and more efficient. The three-story temporary building being erected on the north lawn will be the first piece of the $1.9 billion renovation.
Texas: Ruling on needle exchange
Those in possession of drug paraphernalia as part of a needle-exchange program can be prosecuted, the Texas Attorney General’s Office said Monday, clearing the way for a case against three activists who passed out clean syringes. “Participants in the program may, in the discretion of the prosecutor, be prosecuted under the Texas Controlled Substances Act,” the opinion read. Texas is the only state that doesn’t allow syringe exchange programs, which are meant to curb the spread of diseases like hepatitis and HIV among intravenous drug users.
Priest sentenced for sex in prison
A Roman Catholic priest was sentenced Monday to four years in prison for having sex with two inmates while a chaplain at a women’s prison. Vincent Inametti, 48, worked at Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth for seven years until last fall. He pleaded guilty in November to two counts of sexual abuse of a ward. The U.S. District judge said Inametti had violated trust as an employee of the federal prison — and as a priest. “For this he will face a higher authority than this one,” the judge said.
China: Childhood virus cases grow
China reported a jump Monday in the number of children sickened with hand, foot and mouth disease, saying more than 11,900 cases have been reported. At least 24 deaths in the central province of Anhui and Guangdong province in the south have been blamed on enterovirus 71, one of several viruses that cause the disease, Xinhua News Agency said. Xinhua said the jump in cases was due in part to a new regulation from the Ministry of Health classifying the disease among those that have to be reported to the central government.
Jamaica: Churches resist casinos
Church leaders on Monday urged Jamaican legislators to reject a government plan to boost tax revenue by licensing the poor Caribbean island’s first casinos. Allowing casinos on the island would spread vice, threatening social values and ruining families, said Rev. Henley Bernard of the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. “It seems incredible that those charged with the administration of the country’s affairs should even think of introducing an activity which has shown to produce an increase in crime, violence and moral degradation,” he said.
Latvia: Cruise passengers rescued
Latvia’s coast guard on Monday removed more than 650 people from a stranded cruise ship after tugboats failed to pull the luxury liner off an underwater sand bank in the Baltic Sea. In a five-hour operation, 651 passengers — most of them elderly Germans — and 11 crew members were transferred from the 660-foot-long Mona Lisa onto two naval ships, coast guard officials said. They said 322 crew remained on board at the captain’s orders as the salvage operation continues.
From Herald news services
