Beheadings, killings plague Tijuana amid festival
TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — A rash of decapitations and other gruesome killings have hit Tijuana since Mexican President Felipe Calderon visited the border city last week and called it a success in his drug war.
Nepal teen to earn Guiness World Record as world’s shortest man
POKHARA, Nepal (AP) — Khagendra Thapa Magar of Nepal is a little man facing a big day.
On Thursday — his 18th birthday — assuming his measurements read the expected 25.8 inches (just under 66 centimeters), he will officially be named the world’s shortest man.
 
His family has been campaigning for years to get Thapa the crown, but earlier requests to the Guinness World Records people were rejected because of the possibility he might grow. Up to now he was certified as the shortest male teenager.
They’re all out: 33 miners raised safely in Chile
SAN JOSE MINE, Chile (AP) — The last of the Chilean miners, the foreman who held them together when they were feared lost, was raised from the depths of the earth Wednesday night — a joyous ending to a 69-day ordeal that riveted the world. No one has ever been trapped so long and survived.
 
Luis Urzua ascended smoothly through 2,000 feet of rock, completing a 22½-hour rescue operation that unfolded with remarkable speed and flawless execution. Before a jubilant crowd of about 2,000 people, he became the 33rd miner to be rescued.
 
“We have done what the entire world was waiting for,” he told Chilean President Sebastian Pinera immediately after his rescue. “The 70 days that we fought so hard were not in vain. We had strength, we had spirit, we wanted to fight, we wanted to fight for our families, and that was the greatest thing.”
Closing arguments wrap up Pa. hate crime case, fatal beating
SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — Two young men were filled with alcohol and testosterone — and, as prosecutors charge, ethnic hatred — when they took part in the fatal beating of a Mexican immigrant two years ago.
 
Now it’s up to a jury to decide whether they are guilty of a federal hate crime.
Army Corps worker accused in Iraq contract bribes
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — An employee of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers took hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from a construction company seeking contracts for projects in Iraq worth millions of dollars, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday.
 
John Alfy Salama Markus, also known as John Salama, made an initial court appearance Wednesday afternoon, where U.S. Magistrate Mark Falk ordered him released on $500,000 bond secured by property.
Gulf moratorium is over but drilling has to wait for new rules
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A day after the end of the federal moratorium on deepwater drilling, the Gulf oil industry was a mix of furious activity and tortured waiting around.
 
Companies that are helping the industry meet new regulations are scrambling to keep up with increased business while oil-rig workers must remain idle until the new requirements are met.
Industry officials fear that’s the way things will be for months to come.
 
The Obama administration lifted its moratorium on deepwater drilling six weeks earlier than expected. But a combination of bureaucratic and technological hurdles means it will be months before most of the two dozen rigs idled by the moratorium resume drilling.
 
“There’s a big difference between lifting the moratorium and getting back to work,” said Marvin Odum, president of Shell Oil.
Tulane wins 3-2 ruling in women’s college revival suit
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A sharply split appeal court rules that Tulane University does not have any legal requirement to resurrect its women’s college.
 
The 4th Circuit Court of Appeal ruled 3-2 on Wednesday that Josephine Newcomb’s final will was an unconditional gift to the university.
N.O. high school football player dies after collapsing at practice
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A 16-year-old student at Carver High School in New Orleans has died after collapsing during football practice.
 
Recovery School District spokesman Ken Jones said Wednesday that the student, Dontrell Claiborne, died Tuesday at Tulane Medical Center. Claiborne was a defensive tackle on the team.