Researchers developing breath test for marijuana

Researchers developing breath test for marijuana

SEATTLE

Researchers at Washington State University are working on a breath test to determine if a driver is under the influence of marijuana.

The News Tribune reported that law-enforcement officers have a test for alcohol, but they don’t have a tool to test for marijuana impairment. Right now, officers must use blood tests to determine if THC is present in a driver’s blood.

But WSU chemistry professor Herbert Hill says existing technologies such as those used by airport security agents to detect drugs and explosives can be altered to test breath for THC. Hill says his team hopes to start testing on humans early next year.

The Washington State Patrol says it welcomes anything that gets impaired drivers off the road.

Murder charges against Egypt’s Mubarak dismissed

CAIRO

A judge dismissed murder charges Saturday against former President Hosni Mubarak and acquitted his security chief over the killing of protesters during Egypt’s 2011 uprising, crushing any hope of a judicial reckoning on behalf of the hundreds of victims of the revolt that toppled him.

Yet instead of outrage, a largely muted initial reaction greeted the decision in an Egypt where unlicensed protests draw stiff prison terms and many remain fearful over their security four years after the nation’s Arab Spring revolt.

Kurdish official: IS launched attack from Turkey

BEIRUT

The Islamic State group launched an attack Saturday on the Syrian border town of Kobani from Turkey, a Kurdish official and activists said, although Turkey denied that the fighters had used its territory for the raid.

The assault began when a suicide bomber driving an armored vehicle detonated his explosives on the border crossing between Kobani and Turkey, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Nawaf Khalil, a spokesman for Syria’s powerful Kurdish Democratic Union Party.

The Islamic State group “used to attack the town from three sides,” Khalil said. “Today, they are attacking from four sides.”

Pope prays in Istanbul mosque

ISTANBUL

Pope Francis stood Saturday for two minutes of silent prayer facing east in one of Turkey’s most important mosques, a powerful vision of Christian-Muslim understanding at a time when neighboring countries are experiencing violent Islamic assault on Christians and religious minorities.

His head bowed, eyes closed and hands clasped in front of him, Francis prayed alongside the Grand Mufti of Istanbul, Rahmi Yaran, in the 17th-century Sultan Ahmet mosque, shifting gears to religious concerns on the second day of his three-day visit to Turkey.

“May God accept it,” Yaran told the pope of their prayer.

The Vatican spokesman, Rev. Federico Lombardi, called it a moment of “silent adoration.” Lombardi said Francis told the mufti twice that Christians and Muslims must “adore” God and not just praise and glorify him.

It was a remarkably different atmosphere from Francis’ first day in Turkey, when the simple and frugal pope was visibly uncomfortable with the pomp and protocol required of him for the state visit part of his trip.

Associated Press