16 inmates killed, 35 injured in prison gang riot in Venezuela
 
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A Venezuelan official says a riot involving rival gangs inside a prison has killed 16 inmates and injured 35.
 
Chief prisons official Consuelo Cerrada says authorities peacefully retook control of the prison after the violence.
 
 
 
Ecuador in a state of siege after police riots hospitalize president
 
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Hundreds of police angry over a law that would cut their benefits plunged the small South American nation of Ecuador into chaos Thursday, roughing up and tear-gassing the president, shutting down airports and blocking highways in a nationwide strike.
 
Incensed officers shoved President Rafael Correa around, pelted him with water and doused him in tear gas when he tried to speak at a police barracks in the capital.
 
Correa, 47, was hospitalized after being nearly asphyxiated by the tear gas.
 
The government declared a state of siege, putting the military in charge of public order, suspending civil liberties and allowing soldiers to carry out searches without a warrant.
 
 
 
Mexico officials: Mayor killed in $6,000 hit over land dispute
 
MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) — Two men were arrested for killing a small-town Mexican mayor for $6,000 in a land dispute, prosecutors said Thursday.
 
Nuevo Leon state Attorney General Alejandro Garza y Garza ruled out the involvement of drug gangs that have been blamed for the assassination of many other mayors in Mexico.
 
Prisciliano Rodriguez, mayor of Doctor Gonzalez, was gunned down Sept. 23 along with an aide. He was the fourth mayor killed in northeastern Mexico in a month.
 
 
 
Ex-dean charged with forced labor after making students do chores
 
NEW YORK (AP) — One St. John’s University student was ordered to make meals at a veteran administrator’s home. Another withdrew cash that was delivered to the same official at a casino. A third had to answer personal e-mails — or else be kicked out of school.
 
The allegations in a federal complaint unsealed Thursday were the latest in a widening scandal involving Cecilia Chang, the former dean of the Institute of Asian Studies and vice president for international relations.
 
A judge jailed Chang on Thursday on forced labor charges, alleging she threatened to withdraw scholarships from students unless they did her personal chores. A bail hearing was set for Friday in federal court in Brooklyn.
 
Before losing her job in June after 30 years at the school, Chang traveled worldwide as one of its top fundraisers.
 
 
 
NOAA says sediment on Gulf floor not visibly oiled, contrary to reports
 
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Federal scientists said Thursday they had found no visible oil on the sea floor around the damaged Gulf well that spewed some 206 million gallons of oil. Other scientists say they found a layer of oil on the sea floor.
 
“At this point, we haven’t seen any oiled sediments,” said Janet Baran, a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration coordinating efforts to find what oil is left in the Gulf of Mexico. “All the sediments we have taken have no visible oil on them.”
 
Baran said crews have taken about 114 sediment samples in waters more than 3 miles offshore, including areas around the site of the BP PLC well.
 
NOAA’s findings are in contrast to those of University of Georgia researcher Samantha Joye, who reported earlier this month that she found oil at least two inches thick about a mile beneath the surface. Joye said that under the oiled sediment she found a layer of dead shrimp and other small animals.
 
 
 
2 officers charged in post-Katrina convention center shooting death
 
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Two New Orleans police officers were charged Thursday with lying under oath about the shooting death of a man outside the city’s convention center in Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath, the latest case generated by a broad Justice Department probe of the police department.
 
Officers Ronald Mitchell and Ray Jones were patrolling the area where thousands had sought refuge and were later stranded when resident Danny Brumfield tried to flag the police down, according to the indictment. Brumfield either jumped on the car’s hood or was struck by the vehicle, according to the indictment, and Mitchell shot Brumfield.