Museum to mark 75 years since Doolittle Raid

Museum to mark 75 years since Doolittle Raid

DAYTON

The national U.S. Air Force museum plans to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders’ stunning attack on Japan with the only one of the 80 airmen who’s still alive.

The museum near Dayton says 101-year-old retired Lt. Col. Richard “Dick” Cole, of Comfort, Texas, plans to return for April 17-18 events expected to include B-25 bomber landings. The Dayton-area native will help pay tribute to retired Staff Sgt. David Thatcher, who died this year at age 94 in Missoula, Mont.

Thatcher joined Cole at the museum in 2015 to present the Raiders’ Congressional Gold Medal for display.

They were the last of those who took off in bombers from an aircraft carrier for the daring raid that lifted U.S. spirits and forced the Japanese military to divert resources.

Magnitude 7.0 offshore quake rattles El Salvador

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake rattled El Salvador’s Pacific coast Thursday, but the country’s civil defense agency said there were no immediate reports of damages or injuries.

Lina Pohl, the country’s environment minister, said there was a tsunami alert, but it was lifted Thursday evening. The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter of the quake was about 92 miles south-southwest of the port of El Triunfo.

Otto weakens as it moves across southern Nicaragua

MANAGUA, Nicaragua

Hurricane Otto weakened rapidly as it moved across southern Nicaragua on Thursday after making landfall on that country’s Caribbean coast as a dangerous Category 2 storm. It was the southernmost hurricane on record to hit Central America.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Otto had weakened into a Category 1 storm and was expected to emerge off of Central America’s Pacific coast by today as a tropical storm.

Authorities in Nicaragua said the hurricane had damaged houses and toppled trees, but so far there were no reports of casualties. Earlier, heavy rains from the storm were blamed for three deaths in Panama.

Baby girl born in car amid traffic on NY highway

YONKERS, N.Y.

As many Americans hit the road on Thanksgiving, one baby couldn’t wait to join them.

Firefighters were called to help a woman in labor in a car on a suburban New York highway Thursday. But the baby was born before they got there six minutes later.

It happened on the Sprain Brook Parkway in Yonkers, just north of New York City. Fire Lt. Peter Connelly tells The Journal News the baby appeared healthy.

Vietnam seizes ivory smuggled from Africa

HANOI, Vietnam

Vietnamese authorities have seized 1,362 pounds of ivory illegally shipped in from Africa after finding 4 tons at the same port over the past two months, state media and an official said today.

The ivory seized Thursday had been hidden in two containers arriving at Cat Lai port in southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City, the city’s Customs newspaper said.

The Customs newspaper said the smugglers used more sophisticated tactics than previous shipments.

Associated Press