WORLD DIGEST || Police: Another La. plant blast kills one

Police: Another La. plant blast kills one

donaldsonville, la.

One person was killed and several others injured Friday in an explosion at a south Louisiana chemical plant, only miles from where another blast killed two plant workers the previous day, authorities said.

Louisiana State Police Trooper Jared Sandifer said five people were injured, three of them critically, and were taken to area hospitals after Friday evening’s explosion at a CF Industries facility in Donaldsonville. The identity of the person killed in the blast wasn’t immediately released.

Deck collapse probed

north bay village, fla.

Investigators began probing a twisted pile of concrete, metal and wood Friday to determine why a waterfront deck at a popular sports bar collapsed into shallow Biscayne Bay, injuring two dozen people gathered to cheer the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals.

Authorities estimated about 100 people were on the deck at Shuckers Bar & Grill when a support on one end apparently gave way, causing the deck to buckle in the middle and drop about 8 feet into the bay.

Judge bans suspect’s defense strategy

fort hood, texas

A uniformed Army psychiatrist had no justification for gunning down U.S. troops and won’t be allowed to tell jurors that he was protecting Taliban leaders in Afghanistan, a military judge ruled Friday, appearing to clear the way for the Fort Hood murder trial to begin.

Maj. Nidal Hasan’s “defense of others” strategy fails as a matter of law, Col. Tara Osborn said in a 45-minute hearing. That strategy must show that a killing was necessary to prevent the immediate harm or death of others.

Osborn said no soldiers at the Texas Army post Nov. 5, 2009, posed an imminent threat to anyone in Afghanistan and that the legitimacy of the Afghanistan war is not an issue at Hasan’s court-martial. Hasan, an American- born Muslim, faces the death penalty or life without parole if convicted in the rampage that left 13 dead and nearly three dozen hurt.

Conn. chimp victim denied $150M suit

hartford, conn.

A Connecticut woman disfigured by a friend’s pet chimpanzee in 2009 was denied permission Friday to sue the state for $150 million on her claim that officials knew the animal was dangerous but didn’t do anything about it.

The state claims commissioner released a five-page decision approving the state’s motion to dismiss Charla Nash’s claim, saying the law at the time allowed private ownership of chimpanzees and didn’t require officials to seize legal animals. The state generally is immune to lawsuits.

Nash was blinded, lost both hands and underwent a face transplant after being mauled in in 2009. She reached a $4 million settlement last year with the estate of chimp owner Sandra Herold, who died in 2010.

Early vote count has Rowhani in the lead

tehran, iran

Iran’s interior minister says preliminary election returns give reformist-backed candidate Hasan Rowhani a significant lead in the presidential race.

The minister, Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, said today on state TV that Rowhani has nearly 402,000 votes out of a total of 861,866 counted. That gives the exnuclear negotiator an early wide margin over Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, with about 126,000 votes, and nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, with about 119,000.

It was unclear when final results would be known.

Associated Press