Tornadoes hit in Oklahoma

Tornadoes hit in Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY — At least three tornadoes struck Oklahoma on Tuesday, leaving trails of damage and knocking out power to thousands of homes and businesses.

In the evening, a tornado meteorologists described as large and violent caused “extensive” property damage and several injuries in the south-central town of Lone Grove.

Officials throughout the county were trying to get ambulances and other first responders into Lone Grove, said Amber Wilson, the emergency management director for nearby Ardmore.

Some mobile homes were destroyed at a trailer park in Lone Grove, but no injuries occurred there, Agan said.

In the afternoon, a tornado damaged businesses in Oklahoma City and homes and businesses in the northern suburb of Edmond.

At an Edmond business park, a body shop and the vehicles inside had been turned into a twisted ball of metal.

Rare-book theft charges

CONSETT, England — The self-described “dilettante” pulled up to the courthouse in a stretch limo Tuesday, dressed in white and holding a cigar and a cup of instant noodles as he faced down charges of stealing a rare First Folio of Shakespeare’s plays.

Eccentric British book dealer Raymond Scott, 51, is accused of stealing the book and six other centuries-old books and manuscripts, from Durham University’s library in northern England in 1998.

Before entering court, he read aloud from Shakespeare’s “Richard III.”

“Like Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, I have had to suffer not only the whips and scorns of time but also the law’s delay,” he told reporters, complaining about the slow pace of his decade-old case.

Police say the 1623 Folio is worth about $4.5 million. The First Folio marked the first time Shakespeare’s plays were collected and published together. About 242 are believed to be in existence.

Scott did not enter a plea Tuesday. He was released on bail until his next hearing April 14.

Aztec mass grave found

MEXICO CITY — Archaeologists digging in a ruined pyramid in downtown Mexico City said Tuesday they found a mass grave that may hold the skeletal remains of the Aztec holdouts who fought conquistador Hernan Cortes.

The unusual burial holds the carefully arrayed skeletons of at least 49 adult Indians who were buried in the remains of a pyramid razed by the Spaniards during the 1521 conquest of the Aztec capital.

The pyramid complex, in the city’s Tlatelolco square, was the site of the last Indian resistance to the Spaniards during the monthslong battle for the city.

French leader visits Iraq

BAGHDAD — President Nicolas Sarkozy paid the first visit to Iraq by a French head of state Tuesday, smoothing over lingering resentment about France’s opposition to the war and positioning his country to cash in on lucrative arms and oil deals.

The one-day visit, part of a Persian Gulf tour, took place as the Obama administration is preparing to draw down the 144,000-strong U.S. military force and signaled France’s intention to play a diplomatic role in a region dominated by the United States.

The French leader, who met later with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, praised Iraq for dramatic improvements in security, including provincial elections held last month without major bloodshed.

He urged French companies to invest in Iraq and called on his fellow Europeans to follow the French lead.

More ballots to be counted

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The judges in Minnesota’s Senate trial on Tuesday ordered that 23 previously rejected absentee ballots be opened and added to the race, setting the stage for counting perhaps thousands more such ballots and giving Republican Norm Coleman a shot at erasing Democrat Al Franken’s 225-vote lead.

The ballots belong to voters who sued to have them counted. They have been identified as Franken supporters, but Coleman’s lawyers were encouraged by the order because they want an additional 4,700 rejected absentee ballots to be counted.

“It’s basically what we’ve been asking for all along,” Coleman attorney Ben Ginsberg said of the trial’s first judicial order to count previously rejected ballots.

Franken’s attorney, Marc Elias, also praised the order. “We’re obviously pleased, having said all along that these witnesses should have their votes counted,” he said.

Combined dispatches