Police: Teen dies after fall in temple

Police: Teen dies after fall in temple

ROBBINSVILLE, N.J.

Federal officials are investigating after a 15-year-old Pennsylvania boy fell about 45 feet and died while volunteering on a construction project inside a New Jersey Hindu temple.

NJ.com reports that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is looking into the fall that killed the Hatfield boy at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir campus in Robbinsville on Thursday night.

The teen was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital at Hamilton, where he died an hour later.

Robbinsville Police Lt. Michael Polaski says the fall appears to be an accident, but it is still under investigation.

Subway tiles that look like Confederate flags to be altered

NEW YORK

Transit officials have decided to alter subway station tiles that have a cross-like design similar to that of the Confederate flag.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is modifying the tiles at the 40th Street entrance to the Times Square subway stop to avoid any confusion about their meaning, MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said.

“These are not confederate flags,” Ortiz said. The red, white and blue tiles installed decades ago are “based on geometric forms that represent the ‘Crossroads of the World,”’ he added.

The decision comes in the wake of the deadly rally over a Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville, Va., which has caused communities across the nation to remove Confederate memorials and symbols.

Expert: Arkansas may have reliable source of drug

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.

A death penalty expert says Arkansas’ recent purchase of a lethal injection drug – in a small amount and at a cheap price – suggests the state has found a reliable supplier to help it move 30 inmates from death row to the execution chamber.

The state that put four men to death in April says it has enough drugs to execute two more inmates. Jen Moreno of the Death Penalty Clinic at the University of California Law School said Friday the small amount and cheap price suggest Arkansas can now buy drugs on an as-needed basis.

In 2015, the state spent $24,226 for large stockpiles of midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride. Last week, Arkansas spent $250 for 40 vials of midazolam, which is enough for two executions.

US: Iraqi forces are ready for next battle against IS extremists

BAGHDAD

Senior U.S. military leaders said Friday that Iraqi forces are largely set for their next major campaign against Islamic State extremists after closing out the wrenching nine-month battle to retake the city of Mosul.

Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said he sees the Iraqi assault on the IS-held area of Tal Afar “unfolding relatively soon.” The upcoming fight follows weeks of Iraq regrouping troops and repairing equipment and weapons after recapturing Mosul in July.

Neo-Nazis allowed to march in Germany

BERLIN

Police in Berlin have given neo-Nazis permission to have a 500-person strong rally commemorating the death of Adolf Hitler’s deputy Rudolf Hess in the city’s western district of Spandau.

But there’s a catch.

Police have told organizers they can march, but they’re not allowed to glorify Hess, who died at Spandau prison 30 years ago. The neo-Nazis are allowed to bring banners: but only one for every 50 participants. And military music is strictly forbidden, unless a court overturns that rule before today’s march.

Associated Press