■ CANADA
Ruling sparks security fears
A recent provincial court ruling has poked a potentially massive hole in the country's border security by forcing guards to obtain warrants to search vehicles at checkpoints, officials said on Wednesday. "This ruling could be a concern," said Chris Williams, a spokesman for Canada Border Services Agency, after the agency reviewed the little-noticed decision. "It could affect our commitment to keep illegal drugs, firearms and contraband out of Canada, affecting the way we conduct searches," he explained. The government is appealing the decision, he added.
■ UNITED STATES
Elder Bush's gun returned
Former US president George H.W. Bush presented the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia with his World War II service revolver, returned to him 60 years after he gave it to a lieutenant on the submarine that rescued him after his plane was shot down. The son of the late Lieutenant-General Albert Brostrom on Wednesday returned the .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver and its leather shoulder holster to Bush, who presented it to the Constitution Center for permanent display in the museum. Brostrom was the sonar man on the USS Finback, the sub that rescued Bush on Sept. 2, 1944, after his plane was shot down by the Japanese in the Pacific. Brostrom took Bush to the infirmary, and later shared his bunk with the future president. As he left the sub, Bush gave Brostrom his revolver in gratitude.
■ UNITED STATES
Firefighters at wrong house
Firefighters in Braintree, Massachusetts, drove to a vacant house on Tuesday, cut holes in the roof and walls, and broke windows to test their tools and their proficiency -- only to discover it was the wrong house. They were supposed to be two blocks away at a house slated for demolition. The owners of the damaged home now want the town to pay for the mistake.
■ UNITED STATES
Spiders save arachnophobe
A woman who hates spiders is crediting them with helping save her from a house fire. Danielle Vigue, 18, says she awoke early on Tuesday to find spiders in her room, and started killing them. When more showed up, she went across the hall and got into bed with her 15-year-old sister, Lauren. "I hate spiders, they freak me out," Danielle Vigue told the Saginaw News. A fire was apparently smoldering in the attic of the home in Hemlock, Michigan. A few hours later, Vigue's mother and eight-year-old sister smelled smoke, and flames greeted the family when they opened the door to the room Danielle had earlier left. "I will never kill another spider again," Vigue told WNEM-TV.
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