1 in 3 Americans have gotten flu shot

1 in 3 Americans have gotten flu shot

NEW YORK

As the flu season gets under way, about 1 in 3 Americans already have been vaccinated, health officials reported Friday.

That’s about the same rate or even a little ahead of seasonal-flu vaccinations at this time last year, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Man charged in crossbow killing

TORONTO

A Canadian man was charged with first-degree murder Friday in the fatal shooting of his father in the back with a crossbow in a Toronto library as shocked mothers and children watched.

Zhou Fang, 24, appeared in court to face the murder charge a day after Si Cheng, 52, was killed in the library about an hour after a nearby school let out for the day. The judge ordered that Fang be held without bail.

Toronto police Constable Tony Vella said Cheng was pronounced dead at the scene, and Fang was arrested later Thursday in a Toronto suburb.

Spain military takes control of airspace

MADRID

Spain’s military took control of the nation’s airspace Friday night after air-traffic controllers staged a massive sick-out that stranded at least 330,000 travelers on the eve of a long holiday weekend, forcing the government to shut down Madrid’s big international hub and seven other airports.

About six hours after the sick-out started, causing total travel chaos, Deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba announced that the Defense Ministry had “taken control of air traffic in all the national territory.” He said the army would make all decisions on air-traffic control, organization, planning and supervision.

Panel: Expand use of stomach bands

WASHINGTON

About 12 million more obese Americans soon could qualify for surgery to implant a small, flexible stomach band designed to help them lose weight by dramatically limiting their food intake. The Food and Drug Administration will make a final decision on the Lap-Band in the coming months. The device from Allergan Inc. is implanted in roughly 100,000 people each year and usually helps patients lose 50 pounds or more. Under federal guidelines, it has been limited to patients who are morbidly obese.

Easter Island land dispute gets violent

SANTIAGO, Chile

A land dispute on Easter Island turned violent Friday when riot police evicting islanders from their ancestral home were surrounded quickly by rock-throwing Rapa Nui protesters.

Police said 17 officers and eight civilians were injured, including three Rapa Nui islanders and one policeman who were evacuated to mainland Chile for treatment.

Protesters said 19 Rapa Nui were treated in the small island hospital.

‘Boy assassin’ case shocks Mexico

MEXICO CITY

In a case that has shocked Mexicans, a 14-year-old youth told journalists Friday that he’s a highly sought “boy assassin” who guns down and beheads people for a drug gang.

Soldiers arrested the boy, Edgar Jimenez Lugo, on Thursday night as he prepared to board a flight from Cuernavaca, a tourist destination south of the capital, to Tijuana, where he planned to cross the border to his mother’s residence in the San Diego area.

The case highlights concern about the falling ages of foot soldiers in Mexico’s ongoing drug violence, which has left more than 30,000 people dead since late 2006. The youth said he had been killing already for three years.

Associated Press