Brazilians turn down plan to ban the sale of guns

Brazilians turn down planto ban the sale of guns
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Brazilians soundly rejected a proposal to ban the sale of guns in a national referendum Sunday, striking down the bid to stem one of the world's highest firearm murder rates following a campaign that drew parallels to the U.S. gun control debate. Brazil has 100 million fewer citizens than the United States, but a staggering 25 percent more gun deaths at nearly 40,000 a year. While supporters argued that gun control was the best way to stanch the violence, opponents played on Brazilians' fears that the police can't protect them. With more than 92 percent of the votes counted, 64 percent of Brazilians were opposed to the ban, while 36 percent backed it, election officials said, giving the 'no' position an insurmountable lead. The proposal would have prohibited the sale of firearms and ammunition except for police, the military, some security guards, gun collectors and sports shooters. It would complement a 2003 disarmament law that sharply restricts who can legally purchase firearms and carry guns in the street.
Teen bitten by snakefaces possible loss of arm
POTTSTOWN, Pa. -- A 14-year-old girl may lose her arm after being bitten by a poisonous copperhead snake at school, authorities said. The snake was caught in Valley Forge by a 17-year-old male student, who took it in a shoebox to a drama club gathering at St. Pius X High School on Friday, Lower Pottsgrove Police Chief Ray Bechtel said. No regular classes were held that day, which was designated for staff development. The boy was showing the reptile to other students when it bit the girl's finger, Bechtel said. The girl, whose name was not released by police, apparently threw the snake across the room, and the boy threw it outside. The snake was not found, but authorities were able to identify it because the boy photographed it with his camera cell phone, Bechtel said. The victim was treated at Pottstown Memorial Medical Center about 45 minutes after being bitten, he said. "The doctors said if it had been a half-hour longer she would likely have been dead," said Bechtel. However, police said she could still lose her arm. Police did not have an update on the girl's condition Sunday. She had been in very serious condition at Hershey Medical Center.
Former child actor winsrunoff vote in Poland
WARSAW, Poland -- Warsaw's conservative Mayor Lech Kaczynski won Poland's presidential runoff vote Sunday, partial results showed, sealing the rise of a party headed by his twin brother that pledges to uphold Roman Catholic values and strong welfare state protections. With 91 percent of votes counted, Kaczynski led pro-market legislator Donald Tusk from the Civic Platform party, 54.5 percent to 45.5 percent. Kaczynski, a former child actor, claimed victory and signaled that he was ready to reach out to Tusk's party after the hard-fought election. Tusk conceded defeat. Final results were not expected until today.
Bird flu that killed parrotis deadly strain, Brits say
LONDON -- The British government said Sunday that a strain of bird flu that killed a parrot in quarantine is the deadly H5N1 strain that has plagued Asia and recently spread to Europe. Scientists determined that the parrot, imported from South America, died of the strain of avian flu that has devastated poultry stocks and killed 61 people in Asia the past two years, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The virus is spread by migrating wild birds and has recently been found in birds in Russia, Turkey and Romania, spurring efforts around the globe to contain its spread. While H5N1 is easily transmitted between birds, it is hard for humans to contract. Experts fear it could mutate into a form of flu that is easily transmitted between humans and cause a pandemic that could kill millions.
Report: In U.S., womenmake up 7% of prisoners
WASHINGTON -- Women made up 7 percent of all inmates in state and federal prisons last year and accounted for nearly one in four arrests, the government reported Sunday. A co-author of a Bureau of Justice Statistics report, Paige Harrison, linked an upswing in the rate of arrest for women to their increased participation in drug crimes, violent crimes and fraud. The number of women incarcerated in state and federal prisons in 2004 was up 4 percent compared with 2003, more than double the 1.8 percent increase among men, the study said. In 1995, women made up 6.1 percent of all inmates in those facilities. "The number of incarcerated women has been growing ... due in large part to sentencing policies in the war in drugs," The Sentencing Project, a group promoting alternatives to prison, said in a statement.
Associated Press