Rehab center doesn't have to help in probe

Rehab center doesn'thave to help in probe
ORLANDO, Fla. -- In a case closely watched by drug counselors nationwide, a judge has ruled that staff members at the drug rehab center where Gov. Jeb Bush's daughter is receiving treatment don't have to answer police questions in the investigation.
Investigators had sought a court order to compel four staff members to provide information on whether 25-year-old Noelle Bush was found with a piece of crack cocaine in her shoe.
But Circuit Judge Belvin Perry ruled Monday that a patient's privacy outweighs the interest of a criminal investigation.
Perry ruled that if the staffers were forced to give testimony, then "all patients who suffer relapses could be hauled out of treatment programs and into criminal courts on the whim of a state prosecutor or police officers."
Drug counselors said a ruling against the center would have had a chilling effect on people seeking treatment.
But Prosecutor Jeff Ashton said the ruling would tie investigators' hands in looking into future drug cases. He said he would appeal.
Noelle Bush was put in a court-ordered rehabilitation program in February after she was arrested at a pharmacy drive-through window, accused of trying to buy an anti-anxiety drug with a fraudulent prescription.
Schools, stores closeout of fear of drug gang
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Stores and schools across Rio closed Monday, reportedly on orders from the city's most powerful criminal gang protesting prison conditions of its jailed leader.
More than 13,000 police spread through the streets to maintain order and reassure residents, and police closed off the entrances to seven of the city's most notorious slums, police chief Zaqueu Teixeira said.
"There is no concrete fact to justify this state of fear. We are bringing a message of tranquility because the population can trust in its police," Teixeira said.
Police pleaded for storekeepers not to cave in to the pressure, and some reopened after shutting down for several hours. Police said there was no need for shop owners to feel intimidated by the gangs' threats.
Media reports said the shutdown order came from members of the Red Command drug gang linked to Luiz Fernando da Costa, Brazil's most notorious drug lord.
His supporters were said to be demanding better jail conditions for da Costa, who is better known as Fernandinho Beira-Mar, Portuguese for Seaside Freddy. It was unclear if the shutdown was connected to presidential elections scheduled for Sunday.
President Fernando Henrique Cardoso said what happened Monday in Rio should not be used for electoral purposes. "Public security cannot be mixed up with the election. We have to work together and with seriousness," Cardoso told journalists in Belo Horizonte.
Indian planes collide;15 reported killed
NEW DELHI, India -- Two navy planes flying in formation collided and crashed in western India today, killing all 12 crewmen aboard and three people on the ground, police said.
One plane crashed into a house that was under construction, and the other crashed into a field near a road, said Karnal Singh, the general inspector of police for Goa state, known for its resorts on the Arabian Sea.
The planes carried six crewmembers each and all were believed to have been killed, said Singh. He said three civilians were killed, at least one of them a laborer working on the two-story house when the plane smashed into the ground floor. Eight other construction workers were injured, including three seriously, he said.
"It was a collision between IL-38 planes flying parallel to each other. Their wings collided," Singh said.
The planes went down in a residential area about a mile east of the Goa naval base.
Firefighters sprayed water at the smoking wreckage as navy and air force rescue crews searched for survivors, said Anant Salkar, a reporter at the scene from Tarun Bharat newspaper.
Dangerous treatment
MADISON, Wis. -- A 26-year-old man was in critical condition Monday after he was badly burned while trying to rid himself of head lice.
The man rented a room at a motel Saturday night and doused a towel with rubbing alcohol to get rid of the lice, police said. He put the towel on his head, lit a cigarette and immediately became engulfed in flames.
Police said the man was being treated at University Hospital for second- and third-degree burns over about 50 percent of his body. His name was not released.
Bystanders put out the fire.
Associated Press