Both sides make poison-gas claims

Both sides make poison-gas claims

BEIRUT

Both sides in Syria’s bloody civil war said Saturday that a rural village fell victim to a poison-gas attack, an assault that reportedly injured scores of people amid an ongoing international effort to rid the country of chemical weapons.

What exactly happened Friday in Kfar Zeita, a rebel-held village in Hama province some 125 miles north of Damascus, remains unclear and likely won’t be known for some time. It took United Nations weapons inspectors months to say it was likely some chemical-weapons attacks happened last year, including an August attack that killed hundreds and nearly sparked Western airstrikes against President Bashar Assad’s forces.

But online videos posted by rebel activists from Kfar Zeita echoed earlier images that sparked a world outcry, showing pale-faced men, women and children gasping for breath at a field hospital. They suggest an affliction by some kind of poison — and yet another clouded incident where both sides blame each other in a conflict that activists say has killed more than 150,000 people with no end in sight.

Feds release all cows gathered in roundup

Federal land managers confirmed they released all 400 or so head of cattle rounded up on public land in southern Nevada from a rancher who has refused to recognize their authority.

The Bureau of Land Management took the action Saturday afternoon after hundreds of states’-rights protesters, including militia and tea-party members, showed up at corrals outside Mesquite to demand the animals’ return to rancher Cliven Bundy.

The bureau issued a brief statement saying the cattle were released “due to escalating tensions.” Some protesters were armed with handguns and rifles at the corrals and at an earlier nearby rally.

Magnitude-7.6 quake in Solomons

HONIARA, Solomon Islands

A powerful magnitude-7.6 earthquake triggered large waves in the Solomon Islands today, and authorities were trying to determine if there was any serious damage or injuries.

Government spokesman George Herming said people throughout the Pacific island chain awoke to the strong quake at 7:14 a.m. He said that people on Makira and nearby islands southeast of the capital, Honiara, reported seeing three large waves after the quake.

He said there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center today canceled a tsunami warning after earlier issuing an alert for some Pacific islands. The center reported that sea-level readings indicate a small tsunami was generated that may have caused some destruction near the epicenter.

OSHP: Small plane lands on golf course

BATAVIA, Ohio

The State Highway Patrol said a single-engine plane was forced to make an emergency landing on a golf course in southwest Ohio.

The patrol’s Batavia post said the plane made the landing shortly before 11 a.m. Saturday on a fairway at the Stillmeadow Country Club in Clermont County.

A preliminary investigation indicates the plane experienced engine failure after taking off from the Clermont County Airport. Investigators say the plane hit a sand bunker before coming to a stop and rolled partially on its side on the green.

The patrol identified the two people on board as pilot Kenneth Howes and passenger and owner Karla Goodhouse, both of St. Clair, Illinois. No injuries were reported.

Associated Press