Tuesday, March 22, 2005
hTornadoes kill at least 37
GAIBANDHA, Bangladesh -- Two tornadoes tore through northern Bangladesh late Sunday, killing at least 37 people, injuring nearly 1,000 and leaving thousands homeless, officials said Monday. The tornadoes struck almost simultaneously in the same region, blowing away huts in dozens of farming villages in Gaibandha and neighboring Rangpur districts. One tiny village was almost obliterated. One tornado killed at least 33 people, including women and children, and injured 800 in two areas of Gaibandha district, 120 miles north of the capital, Dhaka, the local administrator's office said. The tornado flattened about 700 mud and straw houses. Rescue teams were dispatched to the area. A second tornado swept through neighboring Rangpur district, killing at least four people and injuring about 200, police said. Nearly 500 flimsy huts also were destroyed. In the village of Khamar Doshalia in Gaibandha district, 23 people died and almost all the 900 homes there were leveled, local administrator Saifullahil Azam said. A village headman said 26 people had died.
Hogzilla confirmed
ALAPAHA, Ga. -- A team of National Geographic experts has confirmed south Georgia's monster hog, known to locals as Hogzilla, was indeed real -- and really, really big. They also noted the super swine didn't quite live up to the 1,000-pound, 12-foot hype generated when Hogzilla was caught on a farm last summer and photographed hanging from a backhoe. Donning biohazard suits to exhume the behemoth's smelly remains, the experts estimated Hogzilla was probably only 7 1/2 to 8 feet long, and weighed about 800 pounds. The confirmation came in a documentary aired Sunday night on the National Geographic Channel; it will be rebroadcast Wednesday and Saturday.
Jackson late to court
SANTA MARIA, Calif. -- A feeble-looking Michael Jackson arrived late again Monday to his child molestation trial, walking slowly and stiffly into court, but the judge took no apparent action against the pop star. Jackson, who is said to have back problems, trembled and wept at the defense table as lawyers and a doctor who came to court in hospital scrubs conferred in chambers with Judge Rodney S. Melville. The judge, who previously threatened to arrest Jackson and revoke his bail when he was late March 10, gave no explanation of what was discussed and simply ordered testimony to resume.
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