■UNITED STATES
Lawmakers ponder benefits
The House of Representatives is taking up emergency legislation offered by Democratic Representative Jim McDermott to provide 13 weeks of extended unemployment benefits for more than 300,000 jobless people who live in states with unemployment rates of at least 8.5 percent and who are scheduled to run out of benefits by the end of this month. The extension would supplement the 26 weeks of benefits most states offer and the federally funded extensions of up to 53 weeks that Congress approved last year and in the stimulus bill enacted in February.
■UNITED STATES
Judge orders smoker to quit
A judge has ordered a 19-year-old Hawaii man who pleaded no contest to starting a restaurant fire with a flicked cigarette to stop smoking for a year. Makaio Bachman-Majamay of Makawao was originally charged with third-degree arson for allegedly igniting the shake roof of the Wei Wei Bar-B-Q Restaurant in Pukalani in July last year. Deputy Public Defender William McGrath says his client didn’t mean to set the fire. Bachman-Majamay pleaded to a reduced charge of third-degree criminal property damage. Second Circuit Judge Joel August ordered him to do community service and pay a US$1,025 fine to fix the roof. He also told the teen not to use tobacco for a year.
■MEXICO
Gunman fit to stand trial
A gunman who opened fire in a crowded Mexico City subway station on Friday night faces double homicide charges. Police say Luis Felipe Hernandez was jailed Sunday on the charges after psychological exams determined he is fit to stand trial. Hernandez, 38, was writing an anti-government statement on a wall at the Balderas station when a police officer confronted him. He fatally shot the officer and then continued firing as people got on and off a train. One commuter was killed and eight others were injured.
■GERMANY
Love handles dangerous
Love handles aren’t just an aesthetic problem, they can also increase the risks of asthma for women, a new medical study found. Women whose waists have a circumference of more than 88cm — even if they are of normal weight — are at risk, the Federal Association of Pneumologists, citing a US study. The study showed that fat buildups along the intestines have a particularly negative impact.
■UNITED STATES
Paterson down but not out
New York Governor David Paterson said on Sunday he was still running for office in the face of reports that President Barack Obama had asked him to withdraw from next year’s race for fear that he cannot regroup from a series of political setbacks. “I am running for office,” Paterson told reporters at a Manhattan parade. “I’m not going to discuss confidential conversations.” The New York Times reported on Sunday that the Obama administration is worried Paterson’s unpopularity could drag down New York’s Democratic members of Congress and the Democratic-controlled state legislature at next year’s elections.
■FRANCE
Man held over bullet threat
Detectives on Sunday detained an unemployed man over threatening letters with bullets sent to President Nicolas Sarkozy and other politicians, a police source said. The man, identified only as Thierry J, is a 51-year-old member of a gun club in the town of Herepian, the source said. He was expected to be transferred soon to Paris.
RSS