■ UNITED STATES
Truck full of bulls hijacked
Somebody hijacked a truck full of rodeo bulls bound for a professional bull riding show, then abandoned them after running out of gas, authorities said. The truck and its cargo were found early on Saturday with an empty gas tank on the outskirts of Nashville, Tennessee, police said. The bulls -- about a dozen valued at US$100,000 -- were unharmed. A suspect had not been arrested. Police Sergeant Robert Durbin said the animals were being delivered to Nashville's Municipal Auditorium for the show when the thief jumped into the cab late on Friday. A woman in the truck escaped despite the carjacker's attempts to keep her inside, witnesses said.
■ UNITED STATES
Mum sorry for Iraq lies
A Texas woman apologized on Friday for a "bad decision" in helping her six-year-old daughter win tickets to a Hannah Montana concert with an essay that falsely claimed the girl's father died in Iraq. Priscilla Ceballos said she had not intended to mislead the contest sponsor but got caught up in helping her daughter "realize her dream of seeing Hannah Montana." "Instead I brought so much negative attention to my family," Ceballos said, reading a statement on NBC's Today show. "Please accept my heartfelt apology and please do not punish my child for my mistake." Ceballos apologized specifically to the military and military families for falsely claiming the girl's father died in a roadside bombing in Iraq.
■ UNITED STATES
Trail hole digger arrested
Police said they arrested a man who admitted digging holes on a park bicycle trail in Fullerton, California, as payback for nearly being run down by a cyclist. Warren John Wilson, 52, faces a single felony count of vandalism, police Sergeant Linda King said on Friday. King said nearly 50 holes measuring about 30cm by 60cm have been found since June along a trail at Laguna Lake Park and in some cases attempts had been made to hide them from cyclists. She said some riders went over their handlebars after hitting the holes, but none reported major injuries. Detectives watching the trails questioned Wilson, who said he had nearly been run over by a mountain bike rider and began digging the holes in retaliation, King said.
■ UNITED STATES
Chicken bones lead to arrest
A trail of chicken bones left at a burglary scene more than a year ago has led investigators to a Kansas prison inmate with a long rap sheet and a hefty appetite. Authorities on Friday charged John Wyatt Weaver, 43, with two counts of burglary and one count of stealing a firearm. No bond was set because Weaver is already serving time at Lansing Correctional Facility in Kansas for an unrelated crime. Police tracked down the suspect through DNA left on six chicken bones strewn throughout an apartment where several firearms were stolen in November 2006.
■ UNITED STATES
Hacker attacks state site
Hackers from China infiltrated the Web site of the Pennsylvania state government, but officials said they found no evidence of damage. Four state departments had security problems with their Web pages, leading to a decision to take down nearly all of the state's Web site on Friday morning. Spokeswoman Mia DeVane said there was no reason to think anyone's personal data had been compromised or that any damage occurred when a hacker "got into what we would say is a back door." By late afternoon, nearly all of the site was back online.
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