APELDOORN, Netherlands — A Dutch driver careered through police barriers and plowed into a crowd cheering their popular queen Thursday, in a premeditated assault on the royal family that killed five bystanders and injured 12, authorities said. The speeding car, already dented apparently from catapulting bystanders into the air, passed within a few yards of the open-topped bus carrying Queen Beatrix and her family down a parade route, then smashed into a stone monument. Prosecutors said the driver, badly injured and still in his crumpled car, acknowledged targeting the queen and her family.
Somalia: Pirate bodies home
American naval forces handed Somali authorities the bodies of three suspected pirates on Thursday, officials said, after U.S. snipers shot the trio earlier this month during a standoff over an American hostage. The sole surviving pirate suspect from the April 8 attack on the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama is in custody in the U.S. facing piracy charges. An official said the Americans had been doing DNA tests on the bodies during the past few days.
Italy: Hijacker is released
One of the Palestinians who hijacked the Achille Lauro cruise ship and killed an American passenger in 1985 has been released after more than 23 years in jail, officials said Thursday. Youssef Magied al-Molqui left prison in Palermo, Sicily, on Wednesday and was transferred to a holding center for immigrants in nearby Trapani while officials work to expel him, police said. Al-Molqui, a member of the four-man team that hijacked the Achille Lauro off the Egyptian coast, had been serving a 30-year sentence, which was reduced for good behavior.
Congo: Crash death toll rises
The death toll from the crash of a Boeing 737 that went down over a village in Congo has risen to seven, officials in Congo and neighboring Central African Republic said on Thursday. The plane — owned by a businessman in Central African Republic — was flying from Brazzaville, the capital of the nearby Republic of Congo, when it went down Wednesday. It was heading to Harare, Zimbabwe. The director of Congo’s Civil Aviation Authority said the plane disintegrated in the air after an explosion inside it.
D.C.: Torture request ignored
A federal judge who provided the Bush administration with suspect legal advice on what constitutes torture declined to respond Thursday to a letter from the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman calling him to explain his actions. Judge Jay Bybee, of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, was head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel when he dispassionately described the intensity of pain that could legally be inflicted. The interrogation methods, including waterboarding, have been denounced by the Obama administration, human-rights groups and foreign allies as illegal torture.
New York: Influenza history
The swine flu outbreak has boosted sales for an acclaimed history of the 1918 pandemic. As of Thursday afternoon, John Barry’s “The Great Influenza,” which came out five years ago, had climbed to No. 99 on Amazon.com’s best-seller list. Barry’s book tells of the 1918 pandemic that killed millions worldwide. A Barry work about the Mississippi flood of 1927, “Rising Tide,” became popular after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005.
Massachusetts: Paper price
The Boston Herald is raising the newsstand price of its daily newspaper by 25 cents to $1, citing economic pressures affecting the newspaper industry. The increase for papers sold within 30 miles of Boston will be effective May 11. Outside of the 30-mile area, the cost will remain at the current $1. The price of the Sunday Herald will remain unchanged at $2. The Boston Globe recently announced that it will raise newsstand prices within the 30-mile city zone from 75 cents to $1 on May 4.
Minnesota: Senate voting
Republican Norm Coleman asked the Minnesota Supreme Court on Thursday to order the counting of at least 1,359 additional ballots and possibly thousands more in his U.S. Senate race or go so far as to throw out the election entirely. In filing a brief to the court, Coleman said counties didn’t follow the same standard for determining how absentee ballots were accepted or rejected. He is seeking to overcome Democrat Al Franken’s lead of 312 votes.
From Herald news services
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
