A judge in Sao Paulo rejected a request by two American pilots to avoid a trip to Brazil for testimony on their role in a crash that killed 154 people, a court spokesman said on Friday. The two pilots — Joseph Lepore and Jan Paladino — are accused of turning off a locator device on their corporate jet before it clipped a Gol Airlines Boeing 737, which crashed into the Amazon rainforest, killing all aboard. No one on the smaller jet was harmed. They face up to two years in prison, a court spokesman said.
Greece: Wildfires leave 17 dead
Forest fires raced across southern Greece on Friday, sweeping into mountainous towns and villages and killing at least 17 people — two found locked in an embrace and others outside cars overtaken by the flames. Hot, dry winds gusting to gale force prevented firefighting planes from taking off, leaving only ground forces to fight the flames in the southern Peloponnese, occasionally helped by helicopters and residents using their garden hoses. Many people were feared trapped in villages.
Malaysia: Jesus-image penalty
The government ordered a Tamil-language daily to halt publication for a month Friday as punishment for printing an image of Jesus Christ holding a cigarette, an official with the newspaper said. The manager of Makkal Osai, which caters to the ethnic Indian minority, said his office received the directive from the Internal Security Ministry. “Of course we are shocked by this. My entire staff are all in tears. They will lose a month of income,” he said, adding that the newspaper would abide by the order but plans to appeal.
Northern Ireland: Snake attack
A Northern Ireland man bit off the head of his girlfriend’s pet snake during a fight and remarked that it “tasted lovely,” lawyers testified Friday. Shane Cooke, a 33-year-old bricklayer, was arraigned in Belfast High Court on charges of assaulting his girlfriend and fatally torturing her royal python Aug. 4. Cooke’s lawyer said his client admitted both offenses and had attacked the snake because he knew his girlfriend loved it. He said Cooke had been consuming alcoholic drinks for several hours before the attack.
From Herald news services
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