■ CanadaCattle killed for tests
Health authorities said on Friday that more than 2,000 cattle have been killed for tests since one animal was found to have mad cow disease, but no other cases had been detected. "One conclusion is very clear from the evidence we have gathered so far: We do not have a significant outbreak of BSE in Canada," federal food inspection agency veterinarian Brian Evans said. Any animal the cow had been in contact with or that belonged to a herd that had had contact with it was killed as a precaution. All tested negative for BSE. On Friday, 14 herds remained quarantined. Evans added: "The disease, to date, appears to be restricted to one cow."
■ Croatia
Pope seeks reconciliation
Pope John Paul II is taking his message of tolerance and reconciliation to eastern Croatia, a spiritual border with the rest of mostly Orthodox Eastern Europe. The 83-year-old pope, midway through a strength-sapping 100th foreign pilgrimage, planned to meet yesterday with Orthodox leaders as part of his efforts to thaw a millennium of mutual distrust between the two major branches of Christianity. John Paul planned to hold a Mass in Osijek, just over the border from predominantly Orthodox Serbia. Organizers were preparing for up to 200,000 pilgrims from Croatia and Serbia as well as neighboring Bosnia and Hungary.
■ United states
Plane crashes into building
A single-engine plane plummeted into a three-story apartment building in Los Angeles on Friday afternoon, killing one person in the plane and at least one person in the building, as well as injuring at least seven other people. Witnesses in the quiet residential area near Fairfax High School described panicked residents of the building rushing into the street as flames poured from windows and the roof. Other witnesses described a heavy-set man jumping from a third-floor window as flames licked the roof above his head.
■ United states
Crosswalk goes nowhere
The northwestern Rhode Island town of Foster finally got its first crosswalk. The problem is, it leads to nowhere. The white-striped pedestrian marking popped up about two weeks ago, stretching from a large hedge on one side of a busy country road to a small stone property wall on the other. It was painted accidentally by state-hired contractors who saw two "Pedestrian Crossing" signs that were posted 20 years ago to get drivers to slow down, said Frank Corrao, chief civil engineer for traffic engineering at the Department of Transportation.
■ United states
Woman loses fight over veil
A Muslim woman in the US lost a lawsuit Friday in which she sought to wear her veil in her driver's license photo. A judge in Orlando, Florida, was not persuaded by her attorney's arguments that a state order for her to remove the veil for the picture interfered with the practice of her religion and cited security concerns as rejecting her lawsuit. Previously, the state of Florida allowed Sultaana Freeman, 35, to wear the veil, which covers all but her eyes and parts of her eyebrows, for the photograph, but it revoked the license after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and demanded she show her face for the picture.
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