Earthquake strikes Britain

Earthquake strikes Britain

MANCHESTER, England — An earthquake struck Britain early Wednesday and was felt across large parts of the country. Police reported some minor damage to homes but no injuries.

The British Geological Survey said it was a 5.3-magnitude quake but the U.S. Geological Survey earlier put the magnitude at 4.7. The tembor struck at about 1 a.m. and was centered about 125 miles north of London.

“It was scary,” David Somerset told The Associated Press by telephone from Driffield, around 60 miles from the epicenter. He was working on the computer at the time.

“It was a strange sensation as the room, ornaments and chest of drawers started wobbling and making a loud rumbling noise,” he said.

Many other people in southern, central and northern England reported feeling their homes shaken by the earthquake in a country where such tremors are uncommon.

Lincolnshire police said they had received dozens of phone calls about the temblor and that some minor damage to homes had been reported.

Law requires residents to spay, neuter pets

LOS ANGELES — Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Tuesday signed one of the nation’s toughest laws on pet sterilization, requiring most dogs and cats to be spayed or neutered by the time they are 4 months old.

The ordinance is aimed at reducing and eventually eliminating the thousands of euthanizations conducted in Los Angeles’ animal shelters every year.

“We will, sooner rather than later, become a no-kill city and this is the greatest step in that direction,” Councilman Tony Cardenas said as he held a kitten at a City Hall news conference.

Councilman Richard Alarcon, who like Cardenas is a co-author of the bill, brought his two pet Chihuahuas to the event to be neutered in a van operated by the city.

The ordinance does exempt some animals, including those that have competed in shows or sporting competitions, guide dogs, animals used by police agencies and those belonging to professional breeders.

Jury deliberations begin in Cutts’ murder case

CANTON, Ohio — A jury began deciding Tuesday whether a former police officer convicted of killing his pregnant girlfriend and their unborn daughter should get the death penalty.

Bobby Cutts Jr. was led from the courtroom by sheriff’s deputies after the jurors began deliberations. The jury, which convicted Cutts earlier this month, broke for dinner and was to resume deliberations Wednesday.

A sobbing Cutts appealed to the jury Monday to spare his life. He said he took responsibility for the deaths of 26-year-old Jessie Davis and the couple’s unborn daughter last June.

Assistant Stark County prosecutor Dennis Barr told jurors Tuesday that the state had met its burden to prove that Cutts deserves to die.

“Bobby Cutts deserves the maximum sentence allowed by law in the state of Ohio. That’s the sentence of death,” Barr said.

Iranian rocket launch

TEHRAN, Iran — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that the research rocket Iran recently launched was built in just nine months without using any foreign models.

Iran’s launch of a rocket in early February provoked unease in an international community already suspicious over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program since the technology involved can also be used to deliver warheads.

“Iranian space engineers built the research rocket in nine months,” said Ahmadinejad, according to the IRNA, the state news agency. “The rocket was not a reproduction of a foreign one.”

Sharon turns 80

JERUSALEM — Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon turned 80 on Tuesday, more than two years after he was rendered comatose by a stroke while serving in Israel’s top job.

Dov Weisglass, formerly Sharon’s top adviser, said there had been little change in his condition over the past year. He is breathing without the help of machines and his vital signs are good, which means his current state could continue for some time.

As for the chance that Sharon will ever emerge from his coma, Weisglass said, “I understand that the doctors are not optimistic.”

Medical staff at Sheba Medical Center outside Tel Aviv move Sharon to maintain circulation and avoid bed sores. His eyes often open involuntarily, and family members spend time at his side.

Associated Press