■UNITED STATES
Pit bull deflates cop’s tires
Some dogs chase cars. One dog in Hope Mills, North Carolina, tried to eat one. The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office said a pit bull deflated all four tires of a deputy’s cruiser on Sunday. Spokeswoman Debbie Tanna said the deputy parked his car in a woman’s driveway while responding to her complaint about another dog. When Deputy Lynn Lavallis went to speak with Gloria Bass, the dog chomped into the tires. The dog didn’t attack the deputy. The dog’s owner, Bass’ next-door neighbor, will be billed US$500 for a new set of wheels.
■MEXICO
Soldiers shoot police officer
Authorities said soldiers shot a police officer in the leg on Monday after he and other police tried to free a detained colleague. Nuevo Leon state security chief Aldo Fasci said three municipal police cars intercepted the military convoy carrying the detained officer in an attempt to free him. He said the police drove away when the soldiers refused. But one officer tried to escape on foot and was shot in the leg when he ignored warnings to stop. Fasci said the detained officer tried to escape when soldiers demanded he pull over at a military checkpoint. After forcing the officer to stop, soldiers found a cache of weapons in his pickup truck.
■MEXICO
Teachers seize offices
Teachers enraged by the shooting death of a colleague seized government offices and blocked roads on Tuesday in Oaxaca, the site of months of violent demonstrations by teachers three years ago. Leftist groups that battled with authorities for five months in 2006 were working with the educators in this latest strike, using hijacked trucks and buses to block intersections. The unrest was sparked by Thursday’s shooting of Antonio Norberto Camacho during a union clash at an elementary school. By Tuesday, teachers and their supporters were taking over public offices including courts and civil service centers. Teachers said 13,000 schools serving 1.3 million students would be closed this week. They are demanding a fair investigation into the shooting.
■BRAZIL
Phallus restored in painting
An art restorer has discovered a new layer hidden in a centuries-old painting by French artist Nicolas Poussin of the Greek god of fertility, Priapus — the deity’s erect penis. “They hid the phallus of Priapus. It’s what we call adjustment for modesty,” said Regina Pinto Moreira, quoted in Tuesday’s edition of the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper. She said the change was likely made in Spain in the 18th century. Moreira and two other experts spent eight months restoring the 1634-1638 painting, Hymenaios Disguised as a Woman During an Offering to Priapus.
■CANADA
Ex-attorney general charged
A former attorney general of Ontario province was charged on Tuesday in the death of a cyclist who clung to his convertible after an altercation. Michael Bryant faces charges of criminal negligence causing death and dangerous driving causing a fatality, police said. An altercation between a cyclist and the driver on Monday evening on a downtown Toronto street ended in “a minor collision.” The cyclist approached the driver and grabbed onto the vehicle. The driver drove off with the cyclist attached to the side of the car. Witnesses said the vehicle swerved back and forth, brushing up against trees and mailboxes to brush off the cyclist. The cyclist later died of his injuries in hospital.
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