Fire knocks out NYC line
A subway line serving tens of thousands of New Yorkers a day was knocked out of service and another severely limited, possibly for up to a year, because of a fire that authorities said may have been set by a homeless person trying to stay warm. Hundreds of relays, switches and circuits that track train signals and locations were damaged in the blaze, the most serious damage to the subway's infrastructure since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, officials said. The fire was set Sunday in a shopping cart in or near the Chambers Street station in Manhattan, fire officials said. It ignited cables above the platform and spread to a room full of switching and signal equipment.
■ Mexico
Terror threat was faked
A suspected Mexican human smuggler who was detained and then released said he was responsible for reporting a fake terror threat against Boston, federal officials said Tuesday. The officials said he made the call either as a joke, or as an act of revenge. In Boston, the FBI released a statement also saying that the threat, which had been widely reported in both Mexico and the US in recent days, was false. "There were in fact no terrorist plans or activity under way," it said. "Because the criminal investigation is ongoing, no further details can be provided at this time."
■ United States
Firemen caught in sex probe
Four Sacramento, California firefighters who admitted to having sex while on duty have been suspended pending an investigation, a spokesman for the city's fire department said on Tuesday. The three men, including a captain, admitted to having sex with a fourth firefighter, a woman, while on duty. Superiors put all four on administrative leave on Monday, marking the second recent sex scandal to hit the sleepy state capital's fire department. "The four individuals have admitted to having sex in the firehouse," said Captain Niko King, a spokesman for the department. "They even conspired to keep it secret by putting one person on watch so they wouldn't get caught."
■ United States
People see AIDS conspiracy
Almost half of all black Americans believe that HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is man-made, more than a quarter believe it was produced in a government laboratory and one in eight think it was created and spread by the CIA, according to a study released by the Rand Corporation and the University of Oregon. The paper's authors say these views are obstructing efforts to prevent the spread of HIV among African-Americans, the racial group most likely to contract the virus. African-Americans are 13 percent of the US population but account for 50 percent of new HIV infections, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. African-American women constituted 73 percent of new female HIV cases in 2003.
■ United States
Magazine accepts ad
Rolling Stone magazine has reversed itself and agreed to accept an advertisement for a new translation of the Bible, America's largest Bible publisher said Tuesday. Rolling Stone sent Zondervan a contract for a half-page ad in the rock magazine's Feb. 24 issue, said Doug Lockhart, Zondervan executive vice president of marketing. He said Rolling Stone gave no explanation for its change of heart. Zondervan bought space in the magazine as part of an ad campaign for a new Bible translation aimed at young people, called Today's New International Version.
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