Bionic British cat gets faux paws

Bionic British cat gets faux paws

LONDON

Oscar the cat may have lost one of his nine lives, but his new prosthetic paws make him one of the world’s few bionic cats. After losing his two rear paws in a nasty encounter with a combine harvester last October, the black cat with green eyes was outfitted with metallic pegs that link the ankles to new prosthetic feet and mimic the way deer antlers grow through skin. Oscar is now back on his feet and hopping over hurdles such as tissue-paper rolls.

After Oscar’s farming accident, his owners, Kate and Mike Nolan, took him to their local veterinarian, and the vet referred Oscar to Dr. Noel Fitzpatrick, a neuro-orthopedic surgeon in Eashing, 35 miles southwest of London.

In the U.S., several animals have received artificial limbs directly attached to their bones at North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

Judge sees 6-month Van der Sloot trial

LIMA, Peru

The chief of the Superior Court for Peru’s capital says the murder trial of Joran van der Sloot should take about six months. An independent expert says it actually might take 18.

Van der Sloot is charged with murdering student Stephany Flores in his Lima hotel room May. 30. He also remains the sole suspect in the unresolved 2005 disappearance of U.S. teen Natalee Holloway on the Caribbean island of Aruba.

Petraeus to face soldier complaints

KABUL, Afghanistan

Crouched in a field of opium poppies, a young Marine lieutenant pleaded over the radio for an airstrike on a compound where he believed a sniper was firing at his troops. Request denied. Civilians might be inside, and the Marines couldn’t see a muzzle flash to be absolutely sure the gunman was there.

The lieutenant’s frustration, witnessed by an Associated Press journalist in February in Marjah in southern Afghanistan, points to a Catch-22 dilemma facing the NATO force: how to protect troops against an enemy that lives — and fights — among the population without killing civilians and turning the people against the U.S.-led mission.

Complaints from the ranks are among the issues facing Gen. David Petraeus.

Among the most sensitive and important to the troops he commands and to supporters of the military at home will be whether to continue the rules laid down by his predecessor, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, that stress saving civilian lives but sometimes leave U.S. forces at greater risk.

Legislators aim to copy Arizona law

BOISE, Idaho

Arizona’s sweeping new immigration law doesn’t even take effect until next month, but lawmakers in nearly 20 other states are already clamoring to follow in its footsteps.

Gubernatorial candidates in Florida and Minnesota are singing the law’s praises, as are some lawmakers in other states far from the Mexico border such as Idaho and Nebraska. The law, set to take effect July 29, requires police to check the immigration status of anyone they think is in the country illegally.

Lawmakers or candidates in as many as 18 states say they want to push similar measures when their legislative sessions start up again in 2011.

Bills similar to the law Arizona’s legislature approved in April have already been introduced in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Minnesota, South Carolina and Michigan, but none will advance this year.

Associated Press