Military plane crash kills 77

Military plane crash kills 77

ALGIERS, Algeria

An Algerian military transport plane slammed into a mountain Tuesday in the country’s rugged eastern region, killing 77 people and leaving just one survivor, the defense ministry said.

Air-traffic controllers lost radio and radar contact with the U.S.-built C-130 Hercules turboprop just before noon and dispatched helicopters to try to find it. The plane was discovered in pieces on Mount Fortas near the town of Ain Kercha, 30 miles southeast of Constantine, the main city in eastern Algeria.

The plane was heading to Constantine from the southern Saharan city of Tamanrasset, which has a massive military presence due to its proximity to the country’s unstable southern borders. It was at least 24 years old, according to sales information supplied by its maker, Lockheed Martin Corp.

Avalanche kills 2, seriously injures 2

PORTLAND, Ore.

An avalanche in the Wallowa Mountains of eastern Oregon killed two backcountry skiers and seriously injured two others Tuesday, officials said.

The avalanche hit about noon as a group of eight was skiing in the remote and mountainous area near Cornucopia, Baker County Sheriff Mitch Southwick said in a written statement.

Most of the skiers are from the Seattle area. Officials weren’t releasing their names or ages until family members could be notified.

Fisherman returns home to El Salvador

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador

Jose Salvador Alvarenga returned late Tuesday to the place where he learned to love the sea, bringing with him a fish tale for the ages.

The 37-year-old, who says he survived more than a year on a small boat drifting from Mexico across the Pacific Ocean to the Marshall Islands, arrived in his native El Salvador to a media throng, a daughter who didn’t remember him and a mother who thought he was dead.

Alvarenga, wearing a dark blue T-shirt, khaki trousers and white tennis shoes, was wheeled in a wheelchair before a crush of more than 100 mostly foreign journalists, intending to speak. But when Foreign Minister Jaime Miranda handed him the microphone, he held it in silence.

Then he put his hands to his face and appeared to cry.

Gay teen achieves Eagle Scout rank

CHEVY CHASE, Md.

Change is coming quickly to the Boy Scouts of America after years of turmoil and debate over its membership policy, with an openly gay 17-year-old in Maryland achieving the highest rank of Eagle Scout.

On Monday night, Boy Scout Troop 52 of Chevy Chase, one of the nation’s oldest, formed a circle and gave Pascal Tessier sustained applause and some handshakes and pats on the back. His achievement comes just weeks after the organization lifted its ban on gay youths and may make him the first publicly gay Eagle approved under the new policy.

Wash. suspends death penalty

OLYMPIA, Wash.

Gov. Jay Inslee said Tuesday he was suspending the use of the death penalty in Washington state for as long as he’s in office, announcing a move that he hopes will enable officials to “join a growing national conversation about capital punishment.”

The first-term Democrat said he came to the decision after months of review, meetings with victims’ families, prosecutors and law enforcement.

Inslee’s action is the latest of several state moves on the death penalty in recent years.

Associated Press