Huge cocaine stash found on ranch in Venezuela
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Authorities seized more than 4.4 tons (4 metric tons) of cocaine at a ranch Thursday after F-16 fighter jets intercepted a plane that was flying to pick up the load, Venezuela’s top security official said.
Soldiers are searching the area surrounding the ranch located in central Guarico state for more cocaine, Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami said.
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  Grenade explosion injures 16 at Mexican bar   PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico (AP) — Mexican authorities say at least 16 people have been injured by a grenade that exploded at a bar in the resort city of Puerto Vallarta.
Prosecutors say five of the injured have been detained as part of the investigation. They are investigating whether one of the injured was carrying the grenade when it exploded.   —-     Poll: Most say US still unprepared for natural disasters   WASHINGTON (AP) — Most people think the U.S. is not better prepared for handling natural disasters than it was when Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast five years ago, according to a poll released Thursday.   Almost six in 10, or 57 percent, say the country has not improved its disaster preparations, according to the survey by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center. Roughly equal numbers of Democrats, Republicans and independents share that view.   —-     Rod Blagojevich headed for retrial early next year   CHICAGO (AP) — By dropping all charges against Rod Blagojevich’s brother on Thursday, the federal government removed what had become an obstacle to their primary mission: convicting the impeached Illinois governor in a retrial now set for early next year.   Jurors who deadlocked last week on all but one of 24 charges in the first trial described the case against Robert Blagojevich as by far the weaker of the two. And they said the former Army officer presented an earnest, sympathetic figure when he insisted on the witness stand that he and his brother did nothing wrong.   —-   Arizona governor files brief in immigration battle   PHOENIX (AP) — Gov. Jan Brewer’s lawyers have filed the first brief in their appeal of a ruling that put the most controversial elements of Arizona’s new immigration law on hold.   Brewer asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Thursday to reverse the ruling U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton made last month.   The governor’s lawyers say the federal government hasn’t effectively enforced immigration law at the border and in the state’s interior.   —-     22 new Katrina fraud charges announced   NEW ORLEANS (AP) — With the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina a few days away, U.S. Attorney Jim Letten announced Thursday the latest round of fraud cases arising from the storm.   Letten outlined charges against 22 people accused of bilking government agencies or aid programs out of amounts ranging from $2,000 to more than $400,000.   They are among more than 180 Katrina fraud cases prosecuted in the New Orleans federal district and 500 nationwide. Letten said more cases are pending, although he acknowledged that the number is falling and that a five-year statute of limitations will be kicking in for some in the coming months.   —-
    FEMA chief reflects on Katrina’s lessons   CHALMETTE, La. (AP) — FEMA learned from Hurricane Katrina to be more flexible in reviewing and approving federal funding for storm repair and rebuilding projects, the agency’s head told a congressional panel Thursday just days before the storm’s fifth anniversary.   Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate told the panel, led by U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., that the agency became “too oriented on process” after the 2005 hurricane, prolonging a backlog of projects awaiting money.   Several members of Louisiana’s congressional delegation also heard testimony from two other federal agency heads: Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan and Lt. Gen. Robert Van Antwerp of the Army Corps of Engineers.   Donovan said nearly 40,000 families displaced by the 2005 storms were still relying on government housing assistance when the Obama administration took office. Today, he added, 98 percent of them have moved into permanent housing.