■UNITED STATES
Fake hand scares angler
A 12-year-old angler has returned from a Michigan river’s edge with a small scare and a big tale. Zack Bastian was fishing last week on the Grand when he saw what appeared to be a bobbing hand attached to an arm, WILX-TV said. Zack and his stepfather called police, only to learn it was fake and belonged to a local law enforcement agency’s dive team. The team’s commander, Sergeant Joe Brown, says he was surprised the weighted-down dummy resurfaced. Team members were unable to retrieve it after an exercise in June. Despite the adrenaline rush, Zack says he would rather be casting for bass or carp.
■UNITED STATES
Seven killed in fire
A fire ravaged a house in Memphis, Tennessee, yesterday, killing seven people — including five children — local media reported. Three children — boys aged 11 and 16, and a 17-year-old girl — suffered second-degree burns to their faces and hands, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported. Firefighters said those who were charred to death included a 38-year-old woman, an 18-year-old male, three girls aged nine, seven and four, and two boys aged five and one. It took 30 fire personnel about 20 minutes to get the fire under control and prevent it from spreading to other houses in the low-income neighborhood of Orange Mound.
■UNITED STATES
Schwarzenegger injured
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger pulled out of an environmental conference on Saturday to have his knee examined after injuring himself while exercising. The governor had been scheduled to co-host a climate change summit in South Lake Tahoe, but Senator Dianne Feinstein told the crowd on Saturday morning that Schwarzenegger had called her to say he couldn’t make it. He injured his knee while working out and it has been bothering him all week, Schwarzenegger spokesman Matt David said. A doctor was expected to examine Schwarzenegger’s knee for a possibly torn meniscus at the governor’s home in Los Angeles.
■GUYANA
Mystery disease sparks fears
The health minister said he worries that a disease that has killed 38 Warao Indians in Venezuela could cross the border. Leslie Ramsammy said he has contacted the Pan American Health Organization to help investigate the deaths. It is believed the Indians died from a form of rabies linked to vampire bats living in the Amazon jungle. “There is definitely a mystery illness out there,” Ramsammy said on Saturday. At least 38 Warao Indians have died since June last year — 16 have of them since the start of June this year, Venezuelan officials said.
■BRAZIL
Music legend passes away
Dorival Caymmi, one of the founders of modern Brazilian music, passed away on Saturday from multiple organ failure, surrounded by family and friends at his Rio de Janeiro home, at 94 years of age, local press reported. “We’ve lost the greatest professors of life,” said singer Tom Ze, who like Caymmi hails from the central coastal state of Bahia, where the sun-drenched lifestyle of fishing villages and sultry women inspired Caymmi’s more than 50 lifetime music albums. From his first and immediately popular song written at 16, O que a baiana tem?, Caymmi’s rhythmic style and deep, sultry voice were adopted by Bossa Nova singers and performed by Joao Gilberto, Tom Jobim and other greats.
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