Body parts identified

Body parts identified

los angeles

Coroner’s officials have identified the man whose dismembered head, hands and feet were found in a Hollywood park, but they’re not releasing his name as police hunt for his killer.

As part of that hunt, police served a search warrant Thursday night on a Hollywood apartment not far from the rugged, hillside park where the body was found.

“They did serve a search warrant last night. They are following clues, and the case is progressing. Guys are working around the clock to find out who did it and find the rest of the body,” police Commander Andrew Smith said Friday.

He did not elaborate on why the warrant was served.

US mulls closing embassy in Syria

washington

The State Department said Friday it “may have no choice” but to close the U.S. embassy in Damascus and remove all U.S. personnel from the country wracked by a 10-month revolt against the regime of President Bashar Assad unless Assad’s government takes extra steps to protect the mission.

The department issued a statement late Friday noting that the Obama administration has “serious concerns about the deteriorating security situation in Damascus, including the recent spate of car bombs and about the safety and security of embassy personnel.”

The uprising against Assad has killed an estimated 5,400 people since March.

Official: 6 killed were based in Hawaii

honolulu

All six Marines killed in the crash of a U.S. helicopter in Afghanistan were based in Hawaii, a Hawaii congresswoman said Friday.

The CH-53D helicopter crashed Thursday in Afghanistan’s southern province of Helmand.

U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said Friday she’s saddened to hear of the deaths.

Sect attacks in Nigeria leave 7 dead

kano, nigeria

A coordinated series of bombings and gun attacks Friday claimed by a radical Islamist sect killed at least seven people in the largest city in Nigeria’s Muslim north, witnesses said, threatening to engulf the whole region in violence.

Police and emergency officials could not immediately be reached to comment, but the scope of the attacks suggested that the death toll would rise.

Tiny baby leaves LA hospital

los angeles

One of the world’s smallest surviving babies was discharged Friday from the hospital where she spent nearly five months in an incubator — but not before getting the Hollywood treatment.

Wearing a pink knit hat and wrapped in a pink princess blanket, Melinda Star Guido was greeted by a mob of television cameras and news photographers outside the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

“I’m just happy that she’s doing well,” said her 22-year-old mother, Haydee Ibarra.

Melinda was born Aug. 30 weighing just 91/2 ounces. Melinda is believed to be the world’s third-smallest surviving baby and second smallest in the U.S. She now weighs 41/2 pounds and has made enough progress to go home.

Smart is engaged

salt lake city

A Utah woman kidnapped at knifepoint at age 14 and held captive for nine months is getting married.

A spokesman for 24-year-old Elizabeth Smart says she got engaged last weekend and will likely marry in the summer. No details about the groom-to-be were disclosed.

Associated Press