Firemen hurt at WTC site

Firemen hurt at WTC site

NEW YORK — Construction equipment fell off a condemned skyscraper at the World Trade Center site Thursday, injuring two firefighters patrolling the area after a deadly blaze last week at the same building. A pallet jack used to carry construction equipment fell off the tower’s 23rd floor and through a construction shed, hitting the two firefighters who were underneath, officials said. They were both in stable condition, one with head injuries and the other with neck and back injuries. Fire officials said earlier reports that a scaffold on the building collapsed were inaccurate. The firefighters had been monitoring the building in the wake of a seven-alarm fire in the building Saturday that killed two firefighters.

Runner’s body found

OKLAHOMA CITY — The body of a high school cross-country runner was recovered from a muddy, rain-swollen lake Thursday, one day after he was swept away while trying to cross a flooded trail. Divers using sonar equipment recovered the body of 17-year-old Phillip Jones from a cove in Lake Overholser layered with logs, sticks and other debris. Jones disappeared on Wednesday when he and other members of the Putnam City West High School track team were on one of their regular runs and found a trail around the lake under water waist-deep, authorities said. They tried to swim to the other side, but the current dragged them into deeper water.

Stomach flu killed woman

ATLANTA — A 90-year-old nursing home patient died from the stomach flu last year, marking the first time U.S. health officials confirmed that the highly contagious bug is sometimes fatal. The North Carolina woman so far is the only person for whom lab tests confirmed norovirus as the killer, but health officials believe the virus killed at least 18 others and caused thousands of illnesses late last year. Noroviruses are a group of viruses that cause the stomach flu, or gastroenteritis. They also are sometimes called Norwalk-like viruses. Health officials don’t systematically count and diagnose norovirus cases. But last winter seemed to be particularly nasty, with more than 1,300 outbreaks reported in 24 states, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Plan for Muslim prayers

OMAHA, Neb. — Meatpacking plant officials accused of discriminating against dozens of Somali Muslim workers have offered to tweak break times to help accommodate the workers’ prayer demands. If the dozens of Muslim workers and Swift & Co. can agree on details, a resolution could defuse the dispute that started earlier this year when 120 workers at the Grand Island plant abruptly quit because they weren’t allowed to pray at sunset. Many say they were fired, quit or were verbally and physically harassed over the issue, and some have complained to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission about the way they were treated. In a letter to lawyers representing the workers, Swift said it could eliminate some break-time conflicts, and offered to negotiate more scheduling flexibility with the union to allow more prayer time if the workers agreed to the proposal. Advocates for the workers said Thursday that they were encouraged by the proposal.

New rules for sunscreens

WASHINGTON — It may be the summer of ’09 or later before beachgoers can count on finding sunscreens to protect against the deeper, penetrating rays linked to wrinkles and cancer. The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday proposed long-delayed rules covering the ingredients, labeling and testing of sunscreens. The proposal would add a requirement that sunscreen makers assess UVA protection in the laboratory and on people as well if they want to make any claim that their products protect against those rays, whose damage is rarely immediately apparent.

Arrest over severed finger

TOKYO — Police arrested an extremist Thursday for sending his severed finger to the ruling party to protest the prime minister’s absence from a shrine on the anniversary of the end of World War II, officials and news reports said. Yoshihiro Tanjo, a 54-year-old member of an ultra-right-wing group in Okayama, western Japan, was arrested on charges of threatening Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Liberal Democratic Party, a prefectural police spokesman.

Vessel with cocaine halted

MEXICO CITY — U.S. forces have intercepted a submarine-like vessel packed with tons of cocaine off the coast of Guatemala and arrested the crew. Four suspects were captured after they abandoned the self-propelled, semi-submersible vessel when it was discovered by officials from Customs and Border Protection, the Navy and the Coast Guard. Authorities found 11 bales containing 1,210 pounds of cocaine.

Associated Press