■ Peru
Bus plunges 500m
A passenger bus plunged 500 meters off an isolated mountain highway in the Andes on Friday, killing at least 10 people and injuring 26, officials said.The accident occurred just after dusk near the town of Chuquibambilla, 510km south of Lima, Dr. Jose Altamirano Rojas, a health official from the town of Abancay, told Radioprogramas radio. Rojas said three ambulances sent to the crash site had not yet returned and that details were still sketchy. The death toll could rise, he added. Police were not immediately available to comment. Bus crashes are common in Peru, where drivers frequently speed and pass vehicles along blind mountain curves.
■ Mexico
Hitman arrested
The alleged leader of a ruthless band of drug cartel hitmen was arrested in Mexico on Friday after a shootout with police on the border with the United States, the Mexican government said. Attorney General Rafael Macedo said a federal agent and two members of the "Zetas" drug gang were killed during the firefight early on Friday in Mexico's border city of Matamoros. Rogelio Gonzalez Pizana was wounded in the shootout and was arrested along with dozens of other suspects. He allegedly led the Zetas group that was formed by former army commanders and operates as a hit squad for the"Gulf Cartel" of cocaine smugglers. The Zetas have been blamed for dozens of murders in turf battles with rival cartels.
■ United States
Book gets the boot
Wal-Mart, the nation's largest retailer, is not selling comedian George Carlin's best-selling new book, When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops, in its stores because its cover makes fun of the Last Supper, a spokesman for Carlin said. Jeff Abraham said Wal-Mart did not like the book's cover that shows the comedian in the setting of Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper sitting next to an empty chair where Jesus sits in the painting. He added "George attacks everything in this book but it does not have any nude photos. He said he thought the title would offend everyone."
■ Canada
Sorry for the dunking
Canada's mission in Sri Lanka yesterday said it may have caused "unintended offence" in dealing with an anthrax scare that led to the disrobing and dunking of three Buddhist monks. "The High Commission deeply regrets that responsible measures taken to ensure the health and safety of all those involved in a potentially hazardous situation may have caused unintended offence," a statement said. The anthrax scare was sparked following the discovery of powder in a passport of a Buddhist monk who went to the mission Monday in the company of two other monks.
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