■ Argentina
Police fire at governor
Police in Buenos Aires fired tear gas and rubber bullets on Wednesday to oust a governor who refused to leave his office despite his suspension over corruption allegations, local media reported. La Rioja Governor Angel Maza hunkered down through the night at his Government House offices after the provincial legislature voted on Tuesday night to suspend him and start impeachment proceedings over allegations that he manipulated bids for mining concessions. At midday about a dozen police cleared a path through about 200 Maza supporters and regained control of the building. The governor was abruptly driven away and there were no reports of serious injuries.
■ United States
Unicorn in defense mix up
On Tuesday, a Billings, Montana, prosecutor told a district judge that Phillip Holliday, 42, claimed a unicorn was driving when his truck crashed into a light pole earlier this month. Apparently, Holliday told police an unnamed woman was driving when his truck hit the pole -- not a unicorn. The mixup occurred when a deputy prosecutor misunderstood an e-mail from a colleague who used the phrase "unicorn defense," thinking it was an actual statement from Holliday. "Unicorn defense" is a term used by prosecutors when someone blames a mythical person for a crime, he said.
■ Canada
Caterpillars vomit liquid
Biologists have discovered that some caterpillars loudly click their jaws to warn predators and then vomit up foul liquid to avoid being eaten, the British weekly New Scientist reports. The silk moth caterpillar uses the unusual defense instead of the better-known mechanism of camouflage, according to the team at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. The clicks, "about as loud as lightly snapping your fingernails," are the first time that caterpillars have been known to make warning sounds, New Scientist says in tomorrow's issue.
■ United States
Sudan owes damages
A judge in Virginia ruled on Wednesday that Sudan should pay damages to the families of 17 sailors killed in the the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole. District Judge Robert Doumar said he would determine how much Sudan should pay the families of the 17 sailors who died in the attack on the guided-missile destroyer. Evidence at the two-day trial detailed the financial and logistical support Sudan gave to al-Qaeda. Six family members also testified about the loss of their loved ones. Payment is expected to come from the US$68 million in Sudanese assets in the US that have been frozen because of the country's links to terrorism.
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