■UNITED STATES
Isaac Hayes dies at 65
Isaac Hayes, the baldheaded, baritone-voiced soul crooner who laid the groundwork for disco and whose Theme From Shaft won both Academy and Grammy awards, died on Sunday afternoon after he collapsed near a treadmill, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office said. Hayes, 65, was pronounced dead at Baptist East Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, an hour after he was found by a family member, authorities said. The cause of death was not immediately known. His music came to be known as urban-contemporary and paved the way for disco as well as romantic crooners like Barry White. His career hit another high in 1997 when he became the voice of Chef, the sensible school cook and devoted ladies man on the animated TV show South Park.
■UNITED STATES
Three killed in bus crash
A casino bus full of tourists overturned in northwestern Mississippi on Sunday, killing three people and injuring several others. The bus belonged to Harrah’s Tunica and was carrying 43 people when it flipped over in a median at an intersection in Tunica, Tunica County spokesman Larry Liddell said. The identities of the passengers who were killed were not immediately released. Twenty-seven injured people were taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital in Southaven, spokesman Thomas Whitehead said. One was in critical condition and five were being held for observation. Four people were taken to the Regional Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee, about 56km to the north. Three remained in critical condition late on Sunday; one was ischarged, spokeswoman Sandy Snell said.
■UNITED STATES
Police suspect viper stolen
Police are investigating the disappearance of a venomous snake from an aquarium in Galveston, Texas, and say they believe the reptile has been stolen. The 25cm African bush viper was last seen on Thursday evening at the Moody Gardens aquarium. Officials say the fastener holding a padlock on the snake exhibit appeared to have been tampered with and damaged. The same snake went missing for two days last month. Workers found it hiding on a metal screen sealing the top of its enclosure, but cannot explain how the snake got up there.
■UNITED STATES
Drivers stop to pick cash
Police near Los Angeles say motorists stopped in speeding traffic to gather up bills on Sunday after a man on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle dropped a bag of cash. They took off when the California Highway Patrol arrived. The biker told authorities a computer bag he was carrying ripped and spilled money across the Interstate 10 highway, where people were driving in 100kph traffic. Highway Patrol Officer Anthony Martin says he does not know how much cash was in the bag or how much drivers made away with.
■MEXICO
Man leaves home by forklift
A 310kg man once considered the world’s most obese person left his home for the first time in five months on Sunday with the aid of a forklift and a platform truck. Manuel Uribe traveled to the shore of a lake in northern Mexico without ever leaving his specially designed bed. A forklift hoisted the bed onto the truck, which then hauled him to the lake, where he snacked on fish and vegetables and joked with a local boat operator. Uribe used to weight 560kg, but dropped to 310kg as of June after more than two years of steady dieting. He did not say what his current weight is.
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