Security increased for prison director

Security increased for prison director

OKLAHOMA CITY

The Oklahoma Department of Corrections has increased security for its director because of threatening phone calls and emails after a botched execution in April, according to records obtained by a newspaper.

The Tulsa World reported Sunday that records show the department bought a bullet-resistant sport utility vehicle with tinted windows for agency Director Robert Patton at a total cost of $40,587 and he is now accompanied by bodyguards.

The threats followed the April 29 execution of Clayton Lockett, who writhed on the gurney, moaned and clenched his teeth for several minutes after the lethal injection began. The execution was stopped after a doctor determined there was a problem with a single IV in Lockett’s groin. He subsequently was pronounced dead of an apparent heart attack.

Portugal puts up $6.6B to save bank

LISBON, Portugal

Portuguese authorities are providing 4.9 billion euros ($6.6 billion) in an emergency rescue to prevent the collapse of ailing bank Banco Espirito Santo, one of the eurozone country’s oldest and biggest financial institutions

Bank of Portugal governor Carlos Costa said late Sunday the money will come from a special fund set up during the eurozone’s recent financial crisis. The fund was created to help financial institutions in difficulty.

The move came after Banco Espirito Santo’s share price lost about 75 percent of its value last week. The stocks crashed after the bank reported a record half-year loss of 3.58 billion euros as previously unreported debts came to light after an audit.

Mechanical failure blamed in explosions

TOTOWA, N.J.

A fire official says a mechanical failure apparently caused two explosions at a food laboratory in northern New Jersey, leaving two workers with cuts and bruises.

Totowa Fire Marshal Allen Del Vecchio tells The Star-Ledger he felt the blast from Pharmachem Laboratories in Totowa on Saturday at his house a mile away.

Pharmachem produces ingredients that flavor foods. Workers say they had just started on a new recipe for eggnog when the blast occurred.

Boy lost in NYC had his ‘greatest day’

NEW YORK

A 9-year-old boy who got separated from his family at the Central Park Zoo says being lost for two hours in New York City was the greatest day of his life.

The Daily News reports that Chris Villavicencio of Union City, N.J., got separated from his parents and younger sister Saturday afternoon.

He left the zoo and wandered around Times Square until police found him at the Port Authority Bus Terminal more than a mile away.

Meanwhile, the boy’s panicked parents reported him missing to police in Central Park.

When the family was reunited, Chris’ father clutched him tightly and wept.

The boy told the Daily News, “This was the greatest day of my life because this was the first day I was at the police station!”

Sunni insurgents seize 2 Iraqi towns

IRBIL, Iraq

Militants with the Islamic State extremist group Sunday seized two small towns in northern Iraq after driving out Kurdish security forces, further expanding the territories under their control, officials and residents said.

The fresh gains by the Sunni extremist militants have forced thousands of residents to flee from the religiously mixed towns of Zumar and Sinjar, toward the northern self-ruled Kurdish region, the United Nations said. Some of them were trapped in an open rugged area, it added.

Associated Press