Russian missiles raise concerns

Russian missiles raise concerns

MOSCOW

Lithuania and Poland expressed concern Monday about signals that Russia has deployed state-of-the-art missiles in a territory that borders the NATO countries.

The U.S. State Department also said that it has urged Russia to avoid taking any steps that could destabilize that region.

Russia’s Defense Ministry gave an oblique response Monday to a report in the German daily Bild claiming that Russia has sent the Iskander short-range missiles to its westernmost Kaliningrad exclave on the Baltic Sea. The ministry said the missiles had been positioned in an unspecified location in western Russia, and argued that the deployment doesn’t contradict any international treaties.

Plane slides off taxiway in snow

MADISON, Wis.

A Delta Air Lines flight carrying 60 passengers slid off a taxiway in the snow after arriving at Wisconsin’s Dane County Regional Airport. No one was hurt.

Airport spokeswoman Kim Jones says Delta Flight 385 from Minneapolis landed at the airport in Madison at 4 p.m. Monday. It was taxiing when the Boeing 737-800 left the paved surface.

Passengers were taken off the plane and brought to the terminal.

Jones says the airport was closed for about an hour while a second runway was cleared for use. It has since reopened.

No explosives found at Harvard campus

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.

Four buildings on Harvard University’s campus were evacuated Monday after police received an email claiming that explosive devices may have been hidden inside, but after hours of searches and disruptions to final exams, no suspicious devices were found.

The buildings were evacuated, and access to Harvard Yard was restricted after the email was received at about 8:40 a.m. Monday, shortly before students were set to begin final exams.

Investigators from several agencies searched the buildings for hours and cleared students to return to all four by midafternoon.

Judge: Paint firms must pay cities $1.1B

SAN JOSE, Calif.

A judge has ordered paint companies to pay 10 California cities and counties $1.1 billion to remove lead from millions of older homes.

Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge James Kleinberg issued the verdict Monday in San Jose after a five-week nonjury trial. The judge found that Conagra Grocery Products Co., NL Industries Inc. and the Sherwin-Williams Co. marketed paint they knew was harmful to children. Atlantic Richfield Co. and DuPont Co. were found not liable.

Lead-based paints were barred from the U.S. market in 1978, but millions of homes painted before then still pose a health risk.

Big Sur, Calif., fire destroys 14 homes

BIG SUR, Calif.

A wildfire burning Monday in the Big Sur area of California destroyed at least 15 homes and forced about 100 people to evacuate as it chewed through dry vegetation on its way toward the ocean. No injuries were reported.

The fire burned about 500 acres in the Pfeiffer Ridge area of Los Padres National Forest near state Highway 1, Los Padres National Forest spokesman Andrew Madsen said.

Madsen said the fire destroyed the home of Big Sur Fire Chief Martha Karstens.

Officials were hopeful that they could contain the blaze this week.

Associated Press