Earthquake rattles northern Chile, no damage reported yet
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — A 6.5-magnitude earthquake rattled a sparsely populated area of northern Chile on Monday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
The quake’s epicenter was located about 55 miles (90 kilometers) west of Calama in northern Chile, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The earthquake at 12:35 p.m. local time (12:35 p.m. EDT; 16:35 GMT) lasted about a minute and was felt most strongly in northern cities.
Libya says NATO airstrike kills 15 in compound west of capital city
SURMAN, Libya (AP) — Libya’s government said a NATO airstrike west of Tripoli early Monday destroyed a large family compound belonging to a close associate of Moammar Gadhafi, killing at least 15 people, including three children, the second such claim in as many days.
Gadhafi’s regime has repeatedly accused NATO of targeting civilians in an attempt to rally support against international intervention into Libya’s civil war. The alliance insists it tries to avoid killing civilians.
Syrian president Assad vows reform of government, critics shout ‘Liar!’
BEIRUT (AP) — Bashar Assad promised a national dialogue Monday to consider political reforms, but his vague overtures to a pro-democracy uprising fell flat as protesters took to the streets shouting “Liar!” and demanding his ouster.
In his third public appearance since the revolt, Assad returned to a now-familiar refrain: He blamed the unrest on “saboteurs,” offered modest potential reforms but gave no sign he’d move toward ending the Assad family’s political domination.
Man urinates in water, city flushes 8 million gallons from reservoir
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — After 21-year-old man was caught on a camera urinating into a reservoir, Oregon’s biggest city is sending 8 million gallons of treated drinking water down the drain.
Portland officials defended the decision Monday, saying they didn’t want to send city residents water laced, however infinitesimally, with urine.
Public health officials say, however, that urine is sterile in healthy people and that the urine in the reservoir was so diluted — perhaps a half pint in millions of gallons — that it posed little risk.
Husband: Gifford recovering, had reunion with staff in Tucson
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A weekend visit home to Tucson that included a reunion with staff members, Father’s Day breakfast and Mexican takeout food was good medicine for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords as she recovers from being shot, her astronaut husband said.
Giffords and Mark Kelly also took a ride Saturday to see familiar downtown sights before an emotional reunion later in the day with her staff, Kelly told the Arizona Daily Star.
Hope and uncertainty as UNO looks to leave LSU system for UL system
(AP) — Hurricane Katrina, the dismissal of a popular chancellor and a proposed merger with a neighboring institution are over, but uncertainty remains at the University of New Orleans, which opened 52 years ago as an arm of Louisiana State University and is preparing to leave the fold.
Votes in the House and Senate on Monday moved the university closer to a transfer from the LSU System — where, some feel it has operated in the shadow of the campus in Baton Rouge — to the University of Louisiana System. UL operates Louisiana Tech, Nicholls State and other regional universities.
Final legislative budget passed without cuts to spending
(AP) — Despite talk of possible cuts, the House and Senate backed a budget for themselves Monday that doesn’t trim annual spending in legislative agencies next year.
The $89 million legislative budget given final passage with a unanimous vote of the Senate is a standstill spending plan, even as cuts have stripped funding from agencies across state government.
Nation & World: 6/20/11
By Associated Press
June 19, 2011