■ UNITED STATES
Placenta returned to mother
A judge has ordered a southern Nevada hospital to return a placenta to a mother who sued to retrieve it. Clark County District Court Judge Susan Johnson granted a preliminary injunction on Tuesday, ordering Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center to return the placenta to Anne Swanson. The hospital had refused to give the uterine lining to Swanson following the April 12 Cesarian birth of her daughter, with officials calling it contaminated biohazardous waste. The organ is currently frozen. Swanson originally wanted to dry the placenta and grind it into a powder for her own consumption citing a theory that placental hormones can help control post partum blues.
■ GUAM
Monument plates recovered
Twenty-seven of 34 stolen bronze plates inscribed with the names of Pacific war dead have been recovered in Hong Kong, according to Guam police. The panels were removed from the War in the Pacific National Historical Park monument, which displays the names of thousands of those tortured and killed on Guam during World War II. Joseph Elibosang, who was arrested on July 6, was charged this week with theft of government property in US District Court. Elibosang told police he sold the panels to a recycling center, but he denies stealing them, according to court documents.
■ MEXICO
Exorcist against `Potter'
The leading exorcist of Mexico's main archdiocese said the popular Harry Potter book and film series could allow the devil to enter children's minds, and does "a lot of damage." The Reverend Pedro Mendoza, a Roman Catholic priest and exorcist coordinator of the Archdiocese of Mexico City, made the comments at the end of a five-day exorcism conference in the capital. "There are many demonic influences, infestations, curses, witchcraft," he said. "And it's in that field that the devil is working." About 280 priests and lay people attended the conference, which included a US$230 exorcism course.
■ UNITED STATES
Gore Junior charged
Al Gore's son was charged on Friday with possessing marijuana and other drugs that authorities say were discovered in his car after he was pulled over in Orange County this month for speeding. Al Gore III, 24, is free on US$20,000 bail and scheduled to be arraigned on Aug. 1. He faces two felony counts of drug possession, two misdemeanor counts of drug possession without a prescription and one misdemeanor count of marijuana possession, the district attorney's office said in a statement. Gore also was charged with a traffic infraction for allegedly driving faster than 160kph. He could be sentenced to a maximum of three years and eight months in prison if convicted.
■ UNITED STATES
Firefighters battle blaze
A wildfire near Nephi, Utah, that may have been started by sparks from riding on the rim of a flat tire raced across thousands of acres, a day after burning through a campground and motel and forcing rescues. With a highly skilled team on its way from Florida, 150 area firefighters were battling the 62km2 fire on Friday against a backdrop of extraordinary heat and drought, with no immediate relief predicted. The fire was burning toward the tiny community of Indianola, and residents in at least two dozen homes were advised to be ready to leave.
RSS