3 killed, several injured in Mississippi bus crash

3 killed, several injured in Mississippi bus crash

JACKSON, Miss. — A casino bus full of tourists overturned in northwestern Mississippi on Sunday, killing three people and injuring several others.

The bus belonged to Harrah’s Tunica and was carrying 43 people when it flipped over in a median at an intersection in Tunica, Tunica County spokesman Larry Liddell said.

Tourists on the bus were headed to the airport for a flight to South Carolina, where many were from, officials said.

The bus was the only vehicle involved in the accident, which was under investigation, Mississippi Highway Patrol Sgt. Leslie White said.

Early recall results show Bolivians backing Morales

LA PAZ, Bolivia — Voters strongly reaffirmed their faith in President Evo Morales on Sunday in a recall referendum that the Bolivian leader devised to try to break a political stalemate in the bitterly divided Andean nation, partial unofficial results showed.

Also subject to recall were eight of the country’s nine governors, three of whom were ousted, according to a quick count by the Ipsos-Apoyo firm. They included two opponents of Bolivia’s first indigenous president.

Nearly 61 percent of voters ratified the mandate of Morales and his vice president, Alvaro Garcia, according to the quick count of votes from 800 of the country’s 22,700 polling stations done for the ATB television network. The two were elected in December 2005 with 53.7 percent of the vote.

Calif. lawmakers weigh chemical ban in baby items

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Responding to growing consumer anxiety, California lawmakers are considering enacting what could be the first statewide restrictions on a chemical found in plastic baby bottles and infant formula cans.

The bill would require that all products or food containers designed for children 3 years and younger contain only trace amounts of the chemical, bisphenol A.

There is little dispute that bisphenol A can disrupt the hormonal system, but scientists differ on whether the very low amounts found in food and beverage containers can be harmful.

Pakistani forces bomb houses near Afghan border

KHAR, Pakistan — Pakistani forces bombed dozens of houses in a tribal region near the Afghan border Sunday, officials and witnesses said, in a military offensive that comes amid U.S. pressure for Pakistan to crack down on militants.

Days of clashes have reportedly killed at least 100 insurgents and nine paramilitary troops in the area, an insurgent stronghold considered a possible hiding place for al-Qaida leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri.

Details have been scarce about the military offensive in Bajur.

Researcher Russo dies

SUFFOLK, Va. — Anthony J. Russo, a researcher who helped leak the Vietnam-era Pentagon Papers to the media and prompted wider public questioning of the war, has died, police said.

Russo, 71, died in his native Suffolk on Wednesday, police records technician Susan Hart said Sunday. The cause of death was not immediately made public.

The case that became known as the Pentagon Papers helped put the Vietnam War on trial.

Park’s stone arch collapses

ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, Utah — One of the largest and most photographed arches in Arches National Park has collapsed.

Paul Henderson, the park’s chief of interpretation, said Wall Arch collapsed sometime late last Monday or early Tuesday.

The arch is along Devils Garden Trail, one of the most popular in the park. For years, the arch has been a favorite stopping point for photographers.

Henderson said the arch was claimed by forces that will eventually destroy others in the park: gravity and erosion.

Bombings in China

KUQA, China — Soldiers with machine guns guarded the sidewalks and police yelled at residents who tried to leave their homes Sunday, hours after officers battled bomb-tossing assailants in the second daring attack in a week in China’s restive Muslim territory.

The attackers were able to launch a series of pre-dawn bombings in the rugged Xinjiang region, far from the Beijing Olympics, despite tightened security.

The violence, which police say killed 10 assailants and one security guard, also came just days after a militant Islamic group linked to al-Qaida issued a new warning it would strike during the Olympics.

Associated Press