New terror threat

New terror threat

paris

Saudi intelligence services have warned of a new terror threat from al-Qaida against Europe, particularly in France, Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said Sunday.

He said the warning of a potential attack by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula was received “in the last few hours, few days.”

European officials were informed that “al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula was doubtless active or envisioned being active” on the “European continent, notably France,” Hortefeux said.

Plane crash kills 4

tijuana, mexico

A light plane carrying four U.S. citizens on a medical aid flight crashed in Baja California, killing all four aboard, Mexican authorities said Sunday.

The Beechcraft A36 was on a flight from Ensenada to San Quintin when it disappeared Friday. Searchers found the plane Saturday south of Ensenada.

Baja California state’s civil protection director, Alfredo Escobedo, said the plane apparently hit a 3,900-foot hill and slid down to a mesa. Those aboard were all from California — pilot Roger Lyon of Cayucos, Drs. Graciela Sarmiento and James Thornton of Arroyo Grande and medic Andrew Thiel, a student in San Luis Obispo.

Pope canonizes 1st Australian saint

vatican city

Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed Australia’s first saint Sunday, canonizing a 19th-century nun and also declaring five other saints in an open-air Mass attended by tens of thousands.

Australians used a traditional sports cheer to celebrate the honor bestowed on their late native, Mary MacKillop.

Among the saints was Brother Andre Bessette, a Canadian brother known as a “miracle worker.” Also canonized Sunday were Italian nuns Giulia Salzano and Battista Camilla da Varano, Spanish nun Candida Maria de Jesus Cipitria y Barriola and Poland’s Stanislaw Kazimiercyzk Soltys.

Levy trial to start

washington

The disappearance of former federal intern Chandra Levy transfixed the nation, tangled a California congressman in scandal and left the nation’s capital shocked and scared. Nine years later, a suspect will finally go on trial.

Jury selection will begin today in the case of Ingmar Guandique, 29, who prosecutors say killed Levy on May 1, 2001, after attempting to sexually assault her while she was jogging on a remote trail in Washington’s Rock Creek Park. But the trial of the Salvadoran immigrant is unlikely to reveal answers to many details surrounding Levy’s death, and legal experts say there could be further anguish for Levy’s parents because a conviction is no sure thing.

Combined dispatches