Cash spills on highway in Md.

Cash spills on highway in Md.

HAGERSTOWN, Md.

You’re cruising along the highway when you see a bunch of green bills fluttering around like flakes in a snow globe. You get closer and you realize it’s cash. Other drivers are pulling over to snatch what they can. What do you do?

Some drivers in Maryland faced that choice Friday when two plastic bags containing about $5,700 in bills and coins fell from an unlatched door on an armored truck and spilled onto Interstate 270 about 35 miles northwest of Washington.

One witness said she saw about 30 cars pulled over on the shoulders and people frantically collecting fistfuls of cash. Police say the motorists grabbed almost all of it. Others kept driving.

New sanctions on Assad family

BEIRUT

Syrian first lady Asma Assad, a glamorous, British-born ex-banker once thought to be at the vanguard of change in her adopted land, was hit by European sanctions Friday after embarrassing reports about shopping sprees as her husband’s forces were accused of murdering civilians.

On Friday, the European Union stepped up the pressure in a very personal way, slapping a travel ban and an assets freeze on Asma Assad, 36, and several other family members, including the president’s powerful mother, Anisa Makhlouf, his sister and sister-in-law.

But public attention Friday focused above all on moves against the Syrian first lady, a mother of three who has seen her reputation plummet from elegant, would-be reformer to something of an international pariah. She has kept a low profile during the revolt, standing by her husband but staying out of the limelight.

Pope gets warm welcome in Mexico

LEON, Mexico

Pope Benedict XVI landed in Mexico on Friday to throngs of faithful who gathered at the tarmac and lined more than 20 miles of his route into the city shouting the ultimate welcome: “Benedict, brother, you are now Mexican.”

Many thought such a warm reception, complete with folkloric dance and mariachis, would not greet a pope some consider distant and academic. But the world’s largest Roman Catholic, Spanish-speaking country showed Benedict the same affection as they did to his predecessor, John Paul II, who was dubbed “Mexico’s pope” after making five trips to the country.

“This is a proud country of hospitality, and nobody feels like a stranger in your land,” the pope said upon landing to wild cheers.

Wire reports