■ United States
Rat eating sparks lawsuit
Watching contestants eat dead rats on NBC's gross-out stunt show Fear Factor so disgusted a Cleveland man that he has sued NBC for US$2.5 million, saying he could not stomach what he saw. In a handwritten four-page lawsuit filed in federal court in Cleveland on Tuesday, paralegal Austin Aitken said, "To have the individuals on the show eat and drink dead rats was crazy, and from a viewer's point of view, made me throw-up as well an another [person] in the house at the same time." He said the show caused his blood pressure to rise so high that he became dizzy and light-headed, and when he ran to his room, he bumped his head into the doorway.
■ United States
Soldier on trial for killings
An Army platoon sergeant used unlawful military action when he ordered his troops to force two Iraqi cousins into the Tigris River for violating curfew, a prosecutor said in closing arguments. Army Sergeant 1st Class Tracy Perkins, who is accused in the drowning death of Zaidoun Fadel Hassoun, 19, is being tried on charges of involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, obstruc-tion of justice and making a false statement. Jurors deliberated for four hours Thursday night before retiring for the night. They were to resume Friday morning. If convicted, Perkins could receive up to 26 years in a military prison.
■ United States
`Viagra' dealer pleads guilty
A man has pleaded guilty to smuggling tens of thousands of counterfeit Viagra tablets from China and manufact-uring hundreds of thousands more. Frank Fu Jen Huang, 58, entered his plea Thursday, the day his trial was to begin. He could face as much as 51 years in prison on charges of conspiracy, trafficking in counterfeit goods and causing a counterfeit drug to be made or sold, authorities said. Prosecutors said Huang dealt in US$5.6 million worth of the counterfeit male sexual potency pills, including importing at least 50,000 tablets into the United States from China.
■ United States
East coast feels tsunami
The tsunami that ravaged countries around the Indian Ocean also hit the eastern US, though only the tide gauges noticed. A tide gauge at Atlantic City, New Jersey, recorded the passage of a "train" of waves, just under 22cm from crest to trough, 32 hours after the earthquake struck off Sumatra's west coast on Dec. 26, said Alexander Rabinovich of the Canadian Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney, British Columbia. A gauge at Port Canaveral, Florida, recorded 34cm waves 24 minutes later. Rabinovich has been spearheading an international effort to chart the course of the fading waves from the devastating tsunami triggered by the earthquake.
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