Gulf Coast bridge opens

Gulf Coast bridge opens

BILOXI, Miss. — Two years ago, cities on the opposite sides of Biloxi Bay clashed over blueprints for a wider, taller bridge to replace a highway span demolished by Hurricane Katrina’s storm surge. Those divisions were an afterthought Thursday for the thousands of Gulf Coast residents celebrating the partial opening of the six-lane bridge between Biloxi and Ocean Springs. The new 1.6-mile bridge restores the last broken link in coastal U.S. 90, a landmark in the region’s recovery from the Aug. 29, 2005, hurricane. Two of the bridge’s six lanes opened to traffic Thursday night after a daylong celebration at both ends of the $338 million structure.

Militants killed in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Helicopter gunships pounded pro-Taliban militants in the mountains of northwest Pakistan on Thursday, reportedly killing as many as 70 in an increasingly bloody conflict between the government and Islamist forces. Pakistan has been rocked by suicide bombings and clashes between security forces and militants in recent weeks, deepening unease ahead of a Supreme Court ruling on the validity of the Oct. 6 presidential victory by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, a key U.S. ally. There are fears Musharraf could impose a state of emergency or martial law if the judges rule against another five-year term, jeopardizing the country’s transition to civilian rule and perhaps worsening instability as the government confronts Islamic militants.

Six sue American Airlines

DETROIT — Six men of Iraqi descent who were flying home after a stint training Marines sued American Airlines on Thursday, saying employees publicly humiliated them after a passenger expressed concerns about them to security guards. The men, who sued in U.S. District Court in Detroit alleging racial discrimination, say airline employees grounded their Aug. 28 flight from San Diego to Chicago and detained them, believing they were security risks. The men, some of whom are U.S. citizens, were returning to the Detroit area after training Marines at Camp Pendleton in California when another passenger expressed concerns to guards partly because she heard the men speaking Arabic. After taxiing from the gate, pilots returned the plane to the terminal.

26 tons of cocaine seized

MEXICO CITY — Mexican authorities said Thursday they had seized 26 tons of cocaine from a ship in the port city of Manzanillo in one of the biggest drug busts on record. Police and marines discovered the drugs Tuesday in a cargo container aboard the Hong Kong-flagged ship Esmeralda, which sailed from Buenaventura, Colombia, the federal attorney general’s office said. Authorities initially said they had found at least 12 tons of cocaine on the ship. But on Thursday, the navy, the attorney general’s office and Public Safety and Defense departments released a statement saying a second stash of cocaine had been discovered, bringing the total seizure to 26 tons. Mexico’s government called it the largest drug seizures in the country’s history.

Ruling against pedophiles

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — A Dutch court on Thursday barred a pedophile support group from publishing photos of children of the royal family on its Web site, a week after it displayed pictures of the 3-year-old daughter of the heir to the throne. The Amsterdam District Court said the photos on the site of the group Martijn violated the privacy of the royal family. The court said it took into account “the character of the Martijn Web site” in granting the injunction sought by the House of Orange. The site’s owners can be fined $7,200 each time they breach the order, up to a maximum of $720,000.

Cop shot in head dies

PHILADELPHIA — A police officer shot in the head during a robbery in a doughnut shop died Thursday morning and his killer remained at large. He was the third city officer shot in the span of four days. Chuck Cassidy, 54, died at 9:40 a.m. at Albert Einstein Medical Center, police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson said. Despite a massive manhunt, authorities reported no good leads in their attempts to find the gunman.

Dentist buys kids’ candy

LAYTON, Utah — A dentist has added a new dimension to the childhood tradition of trading Halloween candy: He’s paying the kids for it. Dr. Terry Preece paid children $1 for every pound they brought in Thursday. He took in 600 pounds at $2 a pound in 2005, the first year he tried it, he said. Overwhelmed with the response, and a few bucks poorer, he cut the bounty to $1 per pound in 2006.
Associated Press