■ United States
Bodybuilder let off the hook
Prosecutors have dropped misdemeanor charges against a diabetic bodybuilder in California who said his behavior during a scuffle with police was due to insulin shock. Doug Burns, 43, who holds the "Mr Natural Universe" crown, was sprayed with Mace and wrestled to the ground by officers who believed he was intoxicated, at a downtown movie theater in Redwood City, California, in April. They arrested him for assault and resisting arrest. Burns maintained that he was disoriented and unaware of his actions as a result of extremely low blood sugar.
■ United States
`Dr Death' leaves prison
Jack Kevorkian, the retired pathologist dubbed "Dr Death" after claiming he had participated in at least 130 assisted suicides, yesterday left prison after eight years, still believing people have the right to die. A smiling Kevorkian said the release was "one of the high points of life" as he walked out with his attorney and 60 Minutes correspondent Mike Wallace. Kevorkian is expected to now move to Bloomfield Hills, just outside Detroit, Michigan, where he will live with friends and resume the artistic and musical hobbies he missed in prison.
■ Bolivia
Police bust big drug lab
Police have busted one of the biggest cocaine-making factories ever found, hidden deep in the jungle, dealing a major blow to South American drug-traffickers, authorities said on Thursday. The secret lab, which was uncovered in the Kaa-Iya national park, some 150km from Santa Cruz and inaccessible by road, could produce up to 100kg of cocaine a day. It was one of the biggest factories uncovered in Bolivia in two decades, and its production translated to about half of all the cocaine illegally exported from the country every year, authorities said. Six Colombians and two Bolivians were arrested in the early Monday raid when anti-drug squads stormed the plant while the men slept in their hammocks, their weapons next to them.
■ United States
Travelers warned on Iran
The State Department on Thursday reiterated a warning to US citizens against travel to Iran, citing hostility against Americans. "Some elements of the Iranian regime and the population remain hostile to the United States. American citizens may be subject to harassment or arrest while traveling or residing in Iran," the department said in a statement. The department said that Iranian authorities may deny dual nationals access to the US Interests Section in Tehran, because Iran does not recognize dual nationals as anything but Iranians.
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