Senate votes to block Mexican trucks from U.S.

Senate votes to block
Mexican trucks from U.S.

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Tuesday to ban Mexican trucks from U.S. roadways, rekindling a more than decade-old trade dispute with Mexico.

By a 74-24 vote, the Senate approved a proposal by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., prohibiting the Transportation Department from spending money on a North American Free Trade Agreement pilot program giving Mexican trucks greater access to U.S. highways.

The proposal is part of a $106 billion transportation and housing spending bill that the Senate hopes to vote on later this week. The House approved a similar provision to Dorgan’s in July as part of its version of the transportation spending bill.

Supporters of Dorgan’s amendment argued the trucks are not yet proven safe. Opponents said the U.S. is applying tougher standards to Mexican trucks than to Canadian trucks and failing to live up to its NAFTA obligations.

Until last week, Mexican trucks were restricted to a commercial border zone stretching about 20 miles inside the United States, except in Arizona, where it extended 75 miles. One truck has traveled deep into the U.S. interior as part of the pilot program.

NTSB recommends
strict helmet laws

WASHINGTON — States should require motorcycle riders to wear proper helmets, government investigators urged Tuesday as part of several recommendations that seek to stem a steady rise in motorcycle deaths.

Members of the National Transportation Safety Board unanimously approved the motorcycle safety recommendations, wading into a contentious issue that has pitted motorcycle rights’ groups against safety organizations in many states.

“The simple act of donning that helmet can begin the process of preventing that type of fatality and serious injury,” said NTSB chairman Mark V. Rosenker.

As motorcycle riding has become more popular, motorcycle deaths have more than doubled since 1997. In 2006, motorcycle deaths increased for the ninth straight year, to 4,810 motorcycle deaths, compared with 4,576 in 2005.

Authorities confirm
remains of two kids

SUGAR CREEK, Mo. — Human remains found in a shallow grave near the Missouri River are those of two missing children last seen when their father picked them up for a weekend visit in 2004, authorities confirmed Tuesday.

Dental records were used to confirm that the remains, found Sunday, were those of Sam and Lindsey Porter, said Tom Gentry, spokesman for the Independence police department.

The children were 7 and 8 years old when their father, Dan Porter, picked them up from his estranged wife for a weekend visit starting June 5, 2004.

Their whereabouts had been a mystery, as Dan Porter told several different stories about what happened to them, including that he had cut them up and that he had strangled them. He was convicted in 2006 of parental kidnapping with the intent to terrorize his ex-wife and sentenced to 38 years in prison.

Syria complains to U.N.
about Israeli airstrike

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syria complained to the United Nations Tuesday about Israeli “aggression and violation of sovereignty” after what a U.S. official said was an airstrike deep in Syria that hit a target.

Syria reported the incursion Thursday, saying Israeli aircraft flew over the northern part of the country and dropped munitions over an empty area after being fired on by Syrian anti-aircraft defenses.

A U.S. military official said Tuesday the incursion was an Israeli airstrike “deep into Syria” that hit a target. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because it was an intelligence issue, said he did not know the target.

The Syrian ambassador, Bashar al-Jaafari, said the Israeli aircraft dropped munitions and fuel tanks to lighten its weight as it fled anti-aircraft fire.

Russia tests powerful bomb

MOSCOW — The Russian military has successfully tested what it described as the world’s most powerful non-nuclear air-delivered bomb, Russia’s state television reported Tuesday.

It was the latest show of Russia’s military muscle amid chilly relations with the United States.

Channel One television said the new weapon, nicknamed the “dad of all bombs” is four times more powerful than the U.S. “mother of all bombs.”

“The tests have shown that the new air-delivered ordnance is comparable to a nuclear weapon in its efficiency and capability,” Col.-Gen. Alexander Rukshin, a deputy chief of the Russian military’s General Staff, said in televised remarks.

Associated Press