Many still missing from Nigeria explosion

Many still missingfrom Nigeria explosion
LAGOS, Nigeria -- Clutching photos, residents searched frantically Wednesday for relatives still missing after a massive fire at a gasoline pipeline in this overcrowded Nigerian city, hoping their loved ones were not among the 265 people killed. The pipeline exploded in a blazing inferno Tuesday after being illegally tapped by thieves who had been carting away gas in tankers for resale. The thieves had failed to reseal the pipeline, prompting hundreds of residents to rush to collect spurting gas with cans, buckets and plastic bags, witnesses said.
Brazilians storm runway
SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Brazilian travelers incensed about an overbooked flight stormed a runway Wednesday to prevent a commercial jet from taking off, and a tourism industry leader said two months of chronic flight delays have been a "disaster" for tourism. About 30 passengers with tickets from Sao Paulo to the northeastern city of Recife got out of a bus parked outside a Tam Linhas Aereas SA jet at one of Sao Paulo's two airports, and surrounded the plane after the crew closed its door and the passengers feared they would not be let on, Brazil's Globo TV reported. Police removed the passengers from the tarmac, but the protest delayed the flight for about two hours, and was a repeat of similar incidents last week, when Brazilians invaded runways at several airports plagued by delays just before Christmas.
Body of 1 climber found
BEIJING -- Searchers found a body that is thought to be one of two American climbers lost for more than a month on a remote mountain in southwestern China, while the second was still missing and presumed also to be dead, a search coordinator said Wednesday. The team had not identified the body, which was partly buried by snow, said Arlene Burns, a friend of the missing climbers, Christine Boskoff and Charlie Fowler of Norwood, Colo.
Malaria cases hit Jamaica
KINGSTON, Jamaica -- Nearly 160 people have been diagnosed with malaria in Jamaica's first outbreak of the disease in four decades, health officials said Wednesday
Copter crashes in bay
LONDON -- A helicopter carrying natural gas workers crashed off the northwest English coast Wednesday night, killing six people and leaving the only other person aboard missing, authorities said. The bodies of the six victims were recovered from the cold waters of Morecambe Bay east of the Isle of Man, Lancashire police and the Maritime & amp; Coastguard Agency said.
Climber rememberedas an adventurer
DALLAS -- Kelly James, the climber whose body has been the only one recovered of three friends lost on Oregon's Mount Hood, was remembered Wednesday as an adventure-craving and spiritual outdoorsman who died where he wanted. The service and burial were held three weeks to the day after James, 48,, fellow Dallas resident Brian Hall, 37, and Jerry "Nikko" Cooke, 36, of New York, started out to scale the 11,239-foot summit. Hall and Cooke have not been found and are presumed dead.
A challenge to Israel
WASHINGTON -- In a rare criticism, the Bush administration said Wednesday if Israel proceeds with construction of a settlement on the West Bank it would violate its peacemaking obligations. But defending its construction plan, a spokesman for the Israeli embassy said "the settlement is not a new one." It was legally established in 1982, housed an army unit and a school and has had civilians living there for several years, said spokesman David Siegel. The plan is to build within the confines of the existing settlement, he said.