US drops unarmed bombs on reef

US drops unarmed bombs on reef

CANBERRA, Australia

Two American fighter jets dropped four unarmed bombs into Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park last week when a training exercise went wrong, the U.S. Navy said, angering environmentalists.

The two AV-8B Harrier jets launched from the aircraft carrier USS Bonhomme Richard each jettisoned an inert practice bomb and an unarmed laser-guided explosive bomb into the World Heritage-listed marine park off the coast of Queensland state Tuesday, the U.S. 7th Fleet said in a statement Saturday.

Commander William Marks, spokesman for the 7th Fleet, said the emergency jettison was made in consultation with Australian officials.

Coaster maker to inspect Texas ride

ARLINGTON, Texas

A German roller-coaster maker is sending officials to a North Texas amusement park to inspect a ride after a woman fell to her death.

The Dallas Morning News reports that Gerstlauer Amusement Rides in Munsterhausen, Germany, will investigate what led to Friday’s accident at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington.

Witnesses said the woman expressed concern about the coaster’s safety bar not completely engaging as the ride was starting.

But a project manager for Gerstlauer, Tobias Lindnar, says the company has never had problems with car safety bars on any of the roughly 50 roller coasters it’s built around the world over the past 30 years.

71 Gitmo captives to get hearings

MIAMI

Seventy-one inmates at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will get parole-board-style hearings at the U.S. Navy base in Cuba, the Pentagon said Sunday, refusing to say when the panels will meet, whether the media can watch and which of the long-held captives will go first.

The disclosure followed a flurry of emails sent after 10 p.m. Friday by Pentagon bureaucrats notifying attorneys for some of the 71 captives that the government was preparing to conduct the hearings ordered by President Barack Obama years ago.

Militant attacks kill 5 in north Sinai

El-ARISH, Egypt

Coordinated day and nighttime attacks Sunday by emboldened militants in Egypt’s northern Sinai Peninsula targeted different areas in the main city of el-Arish and a border town, killing one civilian and four security officers, according to officials.

The pace of attacks on the police and military in northern Sinai has intensified since the July 3 ouster of President Mohammed Morsi from power, but assaults largely have been confined to desolate desert areas of the region.

Sunday’s assault was significant in that it struck in the heart of el-Arish and killed a 32-year-old man driving his car in the most- populated city in northern Sinai, which also is its provincial capital.

‘Corpse flower’ blooms in capital

WASHINGTON

The long wait finally is over for visitors who have been yearning for a whiff of a giant flower that smells oddly like rotting flesh.

The giant rainforest plant known as a “corpse flower” for its terrible smell began blooming Sunday afternoon at the U.S. Botanic Garden next to the Capitol. Experts had been anticipating its bloom for more than a week and have extended the garden’s hours for visitors.

Garden officials expect the flower to hit “peak smell” early today, and remain open for one or two days.

Scientists say the flower’s odor attracts insects that normally are drawn to rotting flesh.

Combined dispatches