■ CANADA
Former PM Clark attacked
Former prime minister Joe Clark was walking down the street in Montreal, minding his own business, when he was suddenly punched in the face by an unknown man, media reported on Saturday. "A fellow called my name and said are you Joe Clark, the former prime minister? ... And he then hit me once on the face," Clark was quoted as saying by the daily Gazette newspaper. "He then swiveled and was away quickly ... My nose was sort of bloodied briefly, internally, but nothing serious. I was stunned. It hasn't happened to me before."
■ UNITED STATES
Man hopes to keep record
Matthew McKnight hopes nobody manages to top his feat in the Guinness Book of World Records. That's because McKnight holds the record for "Greatest Distance Thrown in a Car Accident" in the book's latest edition. The 29-year-old record-holder lived to tell about being thrown 36m by a car that hit him while traveling about 113kph. He was struck on Oct. 26, 2001, while trying to help accident victims along Interstate 376 in Monroeville, about 24km east of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He suffered two dislocated shoulders plus a broken shoulder, pelvis, leg and tailbone.
■ UNITED STATES
Body from crash found
Searchers have found a body and some wreckage from a medical helicopter missing since Monday, a spokesman for the rescue effort said. The body of John Stumpff, 47, a flight nurse from Sterling, Alaska, washed up on the north shore of Passage Canal near Whittier, in Prince William Sound, said McHugh Pierre, a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. Still missing are three other people aboard the helicopter: patient Gaye McDowell, 60, pilot Lance Brabham, 42, and paramedic Cameron Carter, 25. The search was to resume before dawn yesterday.
■ UNITED STATES
Swinger parties threatened
The most popular address on Cedar Ridge Drive is Jim Trulock's split-level home, which has a group sex room and attracts as many as 100 people to swinger parties. But the festivities could soon be over. In response to neighbors' complaints, Duncanville, Texas, has outlawed sex clubs in residential areas. Citations have been issued, and search warrants may be next. "It's crazy that they want to force their morality down our throats," said Dawn Burton, 45, a regular guest at the parties. "We're all frustrated." So are those who complain of the noise, traffic and parking problems that occur in their otherwise quiet, upscale suburban Dallas neighborhood.
■ UNITED STATES
Diocese leaves Church
An entire California diocese voted to secede from the Episcopal Church on Saturday in a historic split following years of disagreement over the Church's expanding support for gay and women's rights. The Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, based in Fresno, California, voted to leave the Church, which has been in significant upheaval since 2003 when Episcopals consecrated the first openly gay bishop in the church's more than four centuries of history. The vote was 173 lay and clergy convention delegates in favor, with 22 against. The Episcopal Church said 32 of its 7,600 congregations had left, with another 23 voting to leave but not taking the final step.
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