UNITED STATES
Sailors died from impact
Two sailors killed in a mysterious crash at sea that reduced their vessel to ruins during a yacht race from California to Mexico died of blunt-force injuries, while a third crewman drowned, coroners reported on Monday. The finding of blunt-force trauma in two of the deaths aboard the 11m sailboat Aegean was further indication the impact was a powerful one. A fourth sailor was still missing as investigators sought to determine if the yacht struck another vessel, presumably a larger ship, or a land mass. Race organizers said the Aegean disappeared from satellite tracking at about 1:30am on Saturday. The US Coast Guard said bodies and debris from the yacht were found near the Coronado Islands off the northwestern coast of Mexico.
UNITED STATES
Woman allegedly bites dog
A young woman who allegedly bit her bulldog during a drunken argument with her mother was charged with animal cruelty and domestic battery, police said on Monday. Neighbors called police after hearing loud screaming and pounding coming from the family home in Lake in the Hills, Illinois. Police said 19-year-old Analise Garner hit and scratched her mother’s face and bit her on the right hand during the altercation. The family’s 36kg English bulldog had three bite marks on its back that were visible through its white fur. “The bulldog finally did bite her back in self-defense,” Sergeant Mike Smith said. “There were no charges against the dog,” he quipped.
MEXICO
Fund for victims passed
Congress passed a law on Monday to recognize and protect the rights of crime victims, a longstanding demand in a country where more than 47,500 people have died in five-and-a-half years of drug-related violence, and thousands more have disappeared. The law covers the dead, wounded, kidnapped or missing, whether they are ordinary civilians or are members of drug cartels and other crime gangs. It would also cover victims of other crimes, like extortion. The measure has now been approved by both houses of Congress and must be signed into law by the president, who supports the move.
UNITED STATES
Mother, son die in accidents
A Wisconsin woman and her adult son were killed in separate traffic crashes just hours apart in a Milwaukee suburb, police said on Monday. Mary Moore, 45, died after she was struck by a vehicle. A friend was speeding her son, Thomas Olson, 22, to the hospital to see her when he struck three parked cars and overturned, Deputy Chief Charles Padgett said. Olson was killed in the crash at about 5:30am on Sunday. Padgett said Olson knew his mother had been hit, but he was not sure if Olson knew she had died. The driver of the car Olson was riding in was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated.
UNITED KINGDOM
Firebombing husband jailed
A “wickedly irresponsible” husband who tried to firebomb his estranged wife’s home by driving a fully laden fuel tanker into the bungalow while she was inside has been jailed for seven years. Hugh Billington, 51, plowed the 7.5 tonne vehicle through the front wall of his former marital home in Wool, England, in a “futile act of revenge” and was also planning to kill himself in the attack. His former wife, Christine Billington, 53, who had taken out a restraining order on him, jumped out of a back window to escape.
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