■ Canada
Septic tank kills 3
Three people died and one person was in critical condition after falling into a septic tank at a campground about 30km east of Montreal early Saturday, Quebec police said. Around midnight, the 56-year-old owner of the Lac du Repos campground entered a hole in the ground with his son-in-law, 27, in order to clear a blocked drain, police said. However, the owner and his son-in-law were overcome by fumes and fell 4.5m into the septic tank below. A 38-year-old camper tried to save them but was also overpowered by the fumes and died. A fourth man was injured trying to save them and is in critical condition.
■ United States
Cop `threatens' Bush
A police officer who mouthed off while picking up his uniform at the cleaners has been indicted on a charge of threatening US President George W. Bush. Joseph Mazagwu, 35, surrendered Friday on charges of threatening the president and lying to investigators. On July 15, Mazagwu was picking up his dry cleaning when the owner asked if he would be part of the president's security detail. The 11-year US Army veteran and Nigerian native answered that he would not work it under any circumstances and criticized the war in Iraq and US policies in Africa. Assistant US Attorney Robert O'Neill alleged that Mazagwu said words to the effect: "The president needs to be shot. His father needs to be shot. If someone gave me bullets, I would do that."
■ Colombia
Police find poison bullets
Colombian police discovered 5,000 cyanide-laden bullets Saturday in Santander province northeast of Bogota, a police spokesman said. The bullets were seized when police stopped an all-terrain vehicle at an intersection, the spokesman said. "AK-47 bullets impregnated with cyanide were hidden in the vehicle," the source said, adding that police were questioning the driver.
■ United States
Prisoners refuse hearing
Two prisoners accused of links to al-Qaeda refused to attend US military review hearings Saturday, raising to 14 the number of detainees who have stayed away from the proceedings, a military official said. The review tribunals are evaluating whether each of the 585 detainees at the US Naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba are properly held as an "enemy combatant" or should be freed. They are separate from a military commission that held pretrial hearings for four men this week. The first prisoner who declined to appear Saturday was a 24-year-old who allegedly had been studying in the US before traveling to his undisclosed home country and then to Afghanistan in June 2001, said Navy Commander Beci Brenton, a Pentagon spokeswoman.
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