Egypt builds border wall

Egypt builds border wall

RAFAH, Egypt — Egypt is building a 13-foot high concrete and rock wall interspersed with watch towers along its narrow boundary with the Gaza Strip to prevent Hamas militants from breaching the border, an official said Thursday. The wall, set back nearly 35 feet from an existing metal barrier, has guard towers every 100 yards. With it, Egypt hopes to prevent any future breaches like one in January when Palestinians broke through to escape an Israeli blockade, a security official said on customary condition of anonymity. On Jan. 23, Hamas broke through the metal wall to let hundreds of thousands of Palestinians escape the blockaded Gaza. At first, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ordered his troops to let the Palestinians cross freely as long as they came to buy food and commodities. But after 12 days, Egypt sealed its borders.

Probe into student killing

AUBURN, Ala. — Authorities said Thursday they were pursuing several leads in the shooting death of an Auburn University student, but they declined to disclose many details. “We’re not going to release anything that might jeopardize or hinder us to make an arrest in this case,” Auburn Assistant Police Chief Thomas Dawson said. Lauren Burk, an 18-year-old from Marietta, Ga., was found wounded by a gunshot on a roadside Tuesday night, about five miles from the school, and later died at a hospital. Her car was found burning in a parking lot on campus. Dawson would not say if Burk was able to give authorities any information before she died. He also would not say if there was a surveillance camera in the campus parking lot that might be of help to investigators. He said there would be an increased police presence on campus until an arrest has been made. “Somebody’s daughter has been murdered and we’re going to do all we can to solve it,” Dawson said.

GM shuts another plant

DETROIT — General Motors Corp. shut down another plant Thursday due to a strike at key parts supplier American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc. even as labor talks were scheduled to resume between American Axle and the United Auto Workers. GM temporarily idled its Wentzville, Mo., assembly plant, after it ran out of parts from American Axle. The plant employs nearly 2,000 people and makes the GMC Savanna and Chevrolet Express vans. The strike has forced the automaker to temporarily shut down six plants in the U.S. and Canada. In addition, an Indiana plant that makes Hummers under contract to GM was closed. On Monday, GM expects to close a Saginaw metal casting plant, a Romulus engine plant and an engine plant in Moraine, Ohio. GM said it might partially close nine additional plants in the U.S. and Canada on Monday.

Tainted-toothpaste case

LOS ANGELES — Criminal charges have been filed against a company that prosecutors say imported and distributed nearly 90,000 tubes of Chinese toothpaste containing a poisonous substance and a wholesaler that supplied local stores with the tubes, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo announced Thursday. Selective Imports Corp. sold the toothpaste containing diethylene glycol to distributors nationwide between December 2005 and May 2007, prosecutors said. Vernon Sales Inc. is accused of buying some of the tubes and reselling them to Los Angeles stores. Diethylene glycol is a chemical used in antifreeze and as a solvent. Chinese manufacturers have used the chemical, known as DEG, as a cheaper alternative to glycerin, which thickens toothpaste. Exposure to DEG, however, can cause kidney and liver damage over time. Vernon Sales President Kamyab Toofer, Vice President Pejman Mossay and the company itself each were charged with 14 criminal counts of receiving, selling and delivering an adulterated drug.

Bombing in Times Square

NEW YORK — For the third time in three years, someone riding a bike and armed with a small explosive has struck in Manhattan, this time in the highest-profile location by far: a landmark military recruitment station in the heart of Times Square. The bomb, contained in a metal ammunition box, produced a sudden flash and billowing cloud of white smoke about 3:40 a.m. Thursday — a scene captured by numerous security video cameras. When the smoke cleared, there were no injuries, serious damage or clear indication of motive. But like similar attacks on the British and Mexican consulates, the explosion frayed nerves of New Yorkers and tourists alike. Although authorities have not definitively linked the three attacks, the latest episode heightened speculation that they were the work of a lone bomber who, perhaps emboldened by his past success, sought out the bright lights of Times Square.

Associated Press