LOS ANGELES — Michael Jackson’s former attorney says the death investigation has become a full-fledged criminal probe with authorities looking toward the kind of court case they could build against the pop star’s physician Dr. Conrad Murray. Attorney Mark Geragos, who once represented Jackson, said Friday that investigators are following a trail which involves purchases of drugs by Murray and possible shipment of drugs to Jackson’s home. Authorities still say Murray is not a suspect.
Border Patrol agent killed
A U.S. Border Patrol agent was fatally shot while pursuing a group of illegal immigrants in a remote valley about 60 miles east of San Diego, triggering a manhunt by federal, state and Mexican authorities, U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials said Friday. Robert Rosas, a three-year agency veteran, was responding to an incursion Thursday night just inside the steel border fence when one or more assailants opened fire, authorities said. He died at the scene. Rosas, a 30-year-old father of two, was the first border agent to be shot and killed in the line of duty in nearly a decade, officials said.
Colorado: Gay joins board
A Colorado Democrat who last year became the first openly gay non-incumbent elected to Congress took his place Friday on the U.S. Air Force Academy’s supervisory board. Rep. Jared Polis was appointed earlier this month to the Academy’s Board of Visitors, which meets Friday and Saturday in Colorado Springs. He is thought to be the first openly gay member serving on an oversight board at any service academy.
D.C.: Sotomayor opponent
Republican Sen. John Cornyn, the head of his party’s Senate campaign arm, said Friday he’ll vote against Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, siding with GOP leaders and conservatives who are lining up against President Barack Obama’s nominee to be the first Hispanic justice. The Texas Republican acknowledged that his decision to oppose Sotomayor could carry political risks — one-third of his constituents are Hispanic — and said he was announcing it with “regret and some sadness.”
Iran: 17 die in rough landing
An Iranian plane carrying 153 passengers and crew skidded off the runway and crashed Friday while landing in northeast Iran, killing at least 17 people, the state news agency said. Among the dead was the manager of the privately owned Aria Airlines, operator of the Russian-made Ilyushin-62 airliner. Television footage showed the plane sitting at an angle, its tail resting awkwardly on the ground and the mangled front end pointing toward the sky. The rest of the aircraft appeared largely intact.
N. Korea: Christian execution
A Christian woman accused of distributing the Bible, a book banned in communist North Korea, was publicly executed last month for the crime, South Korean activists said Friday. The 33-year-old mother of three, Ri Hyon Ok, also was accused of spying for South Korea and the United States, a rights group said in Seoul, citing documents obtained from the North. The Investigative Commission on Crime Against Humanity report included a copy of Ri’s government-issued photo ID and said her husband, children and parents were sent to a political prison the day after her June 16 execution.
Canada: Rail engineers strike
The majority of Canada’s national passenger rail service across Canada effectively shut down on Friday after locomotive engineers at Via Rail Canada went on strike. Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, the union representing 340 engineers, said workers walked off the job after contract talks failed. The union said it has been without a contract since Dec. 31, 2006. The strike comes during one of the busiest travel periods of the year.
Britain: Plane blocks runway
The runway at London’s Gatwick Airport was briefly closed Friday after a flight from Paris to the Welsh city of Cardiff made an emergency landing. A Gatwick spokesman said a FlyBe Dash 8 plane carrying 46 passengers and four crew members touched down Friday. He said no one was hurt and the passengers were safely evacuated. The airport’s runway was closed for about 90 minutes.
From Herald news services
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