■UNITED STATES
Bronx pans underbelly tour
The founder of a civilian patrol group wants to show off New York’s criminal underbelly, but tourism officials are suggesting a trip to the zoo. Community leaders in the Bronx are objecting to a new “Underbelly Tour” by Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa. The tour focuses on both the tumultuous 1970s and lingering crime problems in the borough. The Bronx Tourism Council says it’s disappointed that Sliwa’s tour capitalizes on false stereotypes. It recommends visitors instead go to the Bronx Zoo, New York Botanical Garden, Yankee Stadium, museums and restaurants.
■UNITED STATES
Mother kills daughter, fetus
Fang Chi-xue’s neighbors in Quincy, Massachusetts, didn’t know her well. Once in a while, they would see her outside with her children. She would wave and say hello politely in Mandarin. On Friday, Fang lay in a hospital bed after she allegedly killed her nine-year-old daughter, tried to strangle her 14-year-old daughter and stabbed herself in the abdomen, killing her unborn fetus. Fang, 38, who was seven-months pregnant, was charged with one count of first-degree murder and assault with intent to murder.Authorities were awaiting the results of an autopsy before deciding whether she would be charged with a second count of murder in the death of her unborn baby. David Traub, a spokesman for District Attorney William Keating, said the violence appeared to have been sparked by an argument Fang had earlier in the evening with her husband. Neighbors said the family had moved in several years ago to the neighborhood just south of Boston. The neighborhood is made up largely of Chinese and Vietnamese families.
■UNITED STATES
Woman survives head shot
A woman who was shot in the head not only survived but made herself tea and offered an astonished deputy something to drink, authorities said on Friday. Tammy Sexton, 47, remained hospitalized three days after being wounded by her husband, who killed himself after he shot his wife. A bullet struck her squarely in the forehead, passed through her skull and exited through the back of her head, authorities said. She is expected to fully recover. Court records show her husband was put on probation for six months on April 9 for domestic violence. He showed up at their home in rural Jackson County in Southeast Mississippi about 12:10am on Tuesday and confronted his wife as a relative ran next door to call police, the sheriff said. A deputy was greeted by the woman when he arrived minutes after she was shot with the slug from a .380-caliber handgun. “When the officer got there she said, ‘What’s going on?’ She was holding a rag on her head and talking. She was conscious, but she was confused about what had happened,” he said. “She had made herself some tea and offered the officer something to drink.” Byrd said the bullet apparently passed through the lobes of the woman’s brain without causing major damage.
■UNITED STATES
Plane splits house in two
A small plane sputtered and dove into a house in Oakland Park, Florida, shortly after taking off from a local airport, slicing the home down the middle into two charred pieces. The pilot was killed. The twin-engine Cessna 421 crashed around 11:20am on Friday, and the house burst into flames. The owner’s nephew barely escaped the catastrophe, leaving just before the aircraft hit to visit his aunt.
RSS