1949 firetruck for sale
1949 firetruck for sale
Okabena, Minn., Fire Department members Ed Voit, front, and Les Ruthebeck stand with the department's vintage 1949 KB-5 International Harvester firetruck. The truck is being auctioned on eBay. By Thursday afternoon, bidding, which began Wednesday and will run for 10 days, had reached $5,600.
Acquitted from death row
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- The Florida Supreme Court unanimously ordered the acquittal of a death row inmate Thursday, saying prosecutors had not proved he killed two neighbors. John Robert Ballard, 37, has served nearly three years for the 1999 murders of his friends Jennifer Jones and Willie Ray Patin Jr., whose skulls were smashed at their apartment. The state will not ask the court to reconsider, said Carolyn Snurkowski, a lawyer for Florida's attorney general. The trial judge must sign an order for Ballard to be released. The only evidence tying Ballard to the crime was a fingerprint on a bed frame and an arm hair found in Jones' hand, the high court said. But the court noted the possibility that Ballard left the fingerprint and hair during one of his many visits.
Report on Puerto Rico
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- For the first time since this Caribbean island became spoils of the 1898 Spanish-American War, Washington has laid out the options for Puerto Ricans to decide what kind of relationship they want with the United States. Whether there will be an answer is uncertain, given the political diversity of this island territory and the expected foot-dragging by the U.S. Congress. A recently released White House task force report calls for Puerto Ricans to vote on whether they want to remain an American possession, become the 51st state or become an independent country. Although Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, they can't vote for members of Congress or president because the territory has no electoral votes. They pay no federal income tax but contribute to Social Security, Medicare and other federal programs and pay about 32 percent of their salaries to the island's tax collectors. As a state, Puerto Rico would have two senators and six House members, and it would outrank 24 states and the District of Columbia in the pecking order for federal funding.
Violence continues
ONITSHA, Nigeria -- Christians in this southern Nigerian city burned Muslim corpses and defaced wrecked mosques Thursday after days of sectarian strife that has killed more than 120 people across the country. With 80 people killed, Onitsha has borne the brunt of the violence that followed weekend protests over the publication of cartoons of the Muslim prophet Mohammed. A Muslim district of about 100 homes was burned to the ground, and crumpled corrugated tin roofs lay on top of the remains of smoldering houses Thursday. About 5,000 Muslims fled the city and took refuge across the Niger River in the neighboring town of Asaba. The most recent killings began when Muslim protests against the cartoons Saturday in the northern city of Maiduguri turned violent and 18 people, mostly Christians, were slain.
Rice snubs Lahoud
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise, lightning-quick trip to Lebanon on Thursday, hoping to further isolate neighboring Syria and shore up Lebanon's fragile sovereignty. Rice, taking a half-day out from a tour of Egypt and Persian Gulf countries, met under heavy security with pro-Western Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and several other leaders. She pointedly snubbed President Emile Lahoud, who's close to Syria, which had troops in Lebanon for nearly 30 years until they were pulled out last year under international pressure. A campaign in Parliament is under way to oust Lahoud.
Snow-laden roof collapses
MOSCOW -- Rescuers paused repeatedly in hopes of hearing survivors trapped under concrete and metal beams Thursday after a snow-laden roof collapsed on one of Moscow's biggest markets, killing at least 56 people. Investigators blamed the disaster on a buildup of snow after a harsh winter, design flaws or poor maintenance. Workers used metal cutters, hydraulic lifters and pick axes to clear the rubble from the Basmanny market and knelt down to shout into the wreckage in search of survivors. Dogs helped with the search .
Combined dispatches