■ UNITED STATES
Ricin found in ill man's room
A man was hospitalized in critical condition after staying in a Las Vegas hotel where the deadly poison ricin was found, police said on Friday. The man went to a hospital on Feb. 14 complaining of breathing difficulties. The possible ricin link was not discovered until later, when a person who came to collect his belongings found vials of white powder on Thursday. "We can confirm it was ricin," said David Staretz, chief legal counsel at the FBI office in Las Vegas. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 500 micrograms of ricin -- about the size of a pin head -- is enough to kill an adult. The poison is derived from the castor bean plant and can be dissolved in water, injected or sprayed.
■ UNITED STATES
Workers awarded US$5.19m
A judge has awarded US$5.19 million in damages and interest to the staff of a Chinese-language daily who sued the paper for forcing them to work unpaid overtime, lawyers said on Friday. The suit was brought by 200 staff of the Chinese Daily News based in Monterey Park, Los Angeles, in 2004. They alleged that the paper, one of the largest Chinese-language newspapers in Los Angeles, in some cases forced them to work shifts as long as 12 hours without any breaks, in violation of state and federal laws.
■ GUATEMALA
Bus crash kills 37
A crowded bus plunged off a cliff into a deep ravine on Friday, killing 37 people and injuring 25, emergency workers said. The bus was packed with people traveling to the village of Chiquimulilla when it skidded off the edge as it sped around a bend, said Mynor Rodas, a spokesman for the municipal fire department. "It went straight into the ravine," Mynor said. The injured were taken to nearby hospitals, he said. In rural areas, peasants often travel long distances on overcrowded, rickety school buses to work as day laborers on agricultural plantations. Fatal accidents are common on the dangerous, badly maintained roads.
■ BRAZIL
Police kill six in shootout
Police in Rio de Janeiro killed six alleged drug traffickers on Friday during a dawn shootout in a city slum, officials said. The firefight broke out in the Todos os Santos neighborhood when the six tried to enter a zone controlled by a local militia that had forced them out previously, they said. Vigilante groups have sprung up in several Rio slums since last year to combat the heavily armed drug gangs that often hold sway. The militias extort "protection" money from residents. Brazilian police rarely enter the crime-ridden areas, except in assaults that are criticized by rights groups as being excessively violent.
RSS