Czech WWII fighter ace Frantisek Perina dies

Czech WWII fighter aceFrantisek Perina dies
PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- Czech WWII fighter ace Gen. Frantisek Perina, who fought against Nazi Germany in the French and British air forces died Saturday. He was 95. Perina died in Prague's military hospital of an unspecified chronic illness shortly after midnight, hospital spokesman Frantisek Vlcek said. Perina, who was born April 8, 1911, fled then-Czechoslovakia, which was occupied by Nazi troops, in June 1939. He joined France's air force and was credited with four aerial victories on his first day of combat. After the country capitulated, he fled to Britain to join the Royal Air Force's No. 312 Fighter Squadron to participate in the Battle of Britain, Germany's unsuccessful attempt to destroy the RAF. Perina ended the war with at least 14 downed enemy planes to his credit, one of the most successful Czech fighter pilots. After the Communists took power in Czechoslovakia in 1948, Perina was expelled from the army and again fled his country to rejoin the RAF.
Collapse kills three
BAL HARBOUR, Fla. -- A support frame collapsed at a high-rise construction project Saturday, killing three workers who became trapped in quick-drying concrete as co-workers dug to try to free them, authorities said. The workers were on the 27th level of the building, pouring its concrete roof, when the supporting frame structure below them gave way, dropping them to the 26th floor, said Capt. Al Cruz of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue. A 3-foot layer of hardening concrete completely encased one worker and partially buried the others, fire rescue officials said. The cause of the frame collapse was not immediately determined. The identities of the three workers killed were not immediately known. A fourth worker was taken to a hospital with suspected heart trouble, authorities said. Police identified the building project as One Bal Harbour. It is to be a 26-story condominium with an adjoining hotel, according to the Web site for Bonita Springs-based WCI Communities Inc.
Texas wind and rain
WACO, Texas -- Thunderstorms with strong winds, heavy rain and a possible tornado uprooted trees, toppled power lines and damaged buildings in parts of Texas, officials said. No injuries were reported from the storms Friday night and early Saturday. In Waco, much of the damage appeared to be concentrated in an industrial area, where winds gusting at an estimated 80 mph peeled off warehouse roofs and crumbled the walls at a Coca-Cola Co. bottling plant. About 22,000 Waco residents still lacked power Saturday morning, said city spokesman Larry Holze. An expert was en route to determine whether a tornado or just strong winds caused the damage, said National Weather Service meteorologist Ted Ryan.
Poor health promptedguilty plea, lawyer says
MIAMI -- The 76-year-old reputed godfather of an organized crime family has pleaded guilty during his federal racketeering trial because of declining health, his lawyer said. Jose Miguel Battle Sr. is awaiting sentencing for serving as the boss of "The Corporation," a crime ring that authorities said operated in New York, Florida and Latin America over four decades. But Battle suffers from kidney and liver failure, diabetes and cardiac problems, his lawyer said. "He's just very sick," said attorney Jack Blumenfeld. "This way, he can die at home rather than in jail." Battle faces 20 years to life in prison for racketeering conspiracy if he lives long enough to be sentenced. He was set to be released from a federal detention center on a $1 million bond. Battle and five others were accused of committing five murders, four arson attacks resulting in eight deaths, and more than $1.5 billion collected from drug trafficking, bookmaking and numbers rackets. Battle pleaded guilty April 27; his trial began in March.
Health-care systemtroubled by boycott
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- The shelves at Shifa Hospital's pharmacy are half empty. A shortage of anesthesia means surgeons can do only emergency operations. The kidney unit has cut back on dialysis because it's low on filters, and four of the unit's patients have died from a lack of medicine, officials say. The West's economic boycott of the Hamas-led regime has brought the perpetually strained Palestinian health care system to the brink of disaster, international aid workers and government officials say.
Guard taken hostage
SACRAMENTO, Calif.-- A state prison was locked down Saturday after an inmate took a female guard hostage, authorities said. Officials at California State Prison, Sacramento were negotiating with the inmate, who took the guard hostage in a prison dining hall around 7 a.m., according to prison spokeswoman Lt. Joyce McClendon. The 41-year-old inmate, whose identity was not immediately released, was armed with a six-inch metal knife made in the prison, state corrections officials said. He took the woman into an office area of the dining room. The woman had not been harmed, officials said. The inmate was serving a 26-year sentence for robbery and false imprisonment after being convicted in San Diego County. He was a maximum-security inmate assigned to work in the dining room.
Associated Press