HONOLULU — Republicans cited Rep.-elect Charles Djou’s victory for a seat long out of their reach as evidence of steadily increasing election-year strength, but Democrats said Sunday the winner’s 40-percent vote share portends a short stay in Congress for him and predicts nothing about the fall.
“It is a significant win. It is the birthplace of the president of the United States,” Republican Chairman Michael Steele said a few hours after Djou sealed his victory over Democrats Colleen Hanabusa and Ed Case. The two drew 59 percent of the vote between them in the winner-take-all contest.
Djou became the first Republican in nearly 20 years to win a congressional seat from his state. He will replace Neil Abercrombie, a 10-term Democrat who resigned to run for governor.
California: Second freeway crash kills 3 involved in first wreck
Authorities say three people exchanging information after a freeway crash in Los Angeles’ Sherman Oaks district were hit by another vehicle and killed. The California Highway Patrol said the three killed had been involved in a three-car accident on U.S. 101 about 2 a.m. Sunday and had stepped out of their vehicles to exchange information when they were struck by a BMW. Two men and a woman were killed; one person was injured.
Gas falls more than 9 cents
The average price of regular gasoline in the U.S. has dropped 9.25 cents over a two-week period to $2.83, according to the national Lundberg Survey of fuel prices released Sunday in Camarillo. Jackson, Miss., had the lowest average price among cities surveyed at $2.62 a gallon for regular. San Francisco was highest at $3.10.
China: Clinton urges working together on N. Korea
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton today urged China to work with the United States to coordinate a response to the sinking of a South Korean warship, which has been blamed on North Korea. Opening two days of high-level U.S.-China talks in Beijing, Clinton said North Korea must be held to account for the incident, which international investigators have determined was caused by a torpedo fired from a North Korean submarine. China is North Korea’s main ally and has thus far remained neutral on the investigation. In Seoul, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said his country will take the case to the U.N. Security Council on Monday.
Iran: Prisoner swap for U.S. hikers suggested by official
Iran’s intelligence minister on Sunday signaled that Tehran might be open to a prisoner swap with the U.S. for three Americans jailed in Iran since last July. Sarah Shourd, 31, Shane Bauer, 27, and Josh Fattal, 27, were arrested along the Iraqi border 10 months ago. Iran has accused them of espionage and entering the country illegally; their families say the three were hiking in Iraq’s largely peaceful mountainous northern Kurdish region and that if they crossed the border, it was accidental.
Iceland: Volcano goes quiet
There is very little activity at the Eyjafjallajokul volcano, Icelandic officials and scientists said Sunday, but it is too early to say whether the eruption that has disrupted global air travel is over. Eyjafjallajokul (pronounced ay-yah-FYAH-lah-yer-kuhl) erupted April 14 for the first time in nearly two centuries. Danger to planes from the volcanic ash plume led most northern European countries to shut their airspace April 15-20, grounding an estimated 10 million travelers worldwide.
Egypt: 57 tombs found, many with mummies
Archaeologists have unearthed 57 ancient Egyptian tombs, most of which hold an ornately painted wooden sarcophagus with a mummy inside, Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities said Sunday. The oldest tombs date back to around 2750 B.C. during the period of Egypt’s first and second dynasties, the council said. Twelve of the tombs, which were found in Lahoun, belong the 18th dynasty which ruled Egypt during the second millennium B.C.
From Herald news services
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