Death toll rises to 26 in Calif. train crash
LOS ANGELES: The coroner's office says the death toll in the Los Angeles commuter train crash has reached 26. Coroner's assistant chief Ed Winter says the 26th death was reported to his office yesterday after a victim died Saturday at County-USC Medical Center. The commuter train carrying 220 people rolled past stop signals Friday and barreled head-on into a Union Pacific freight train in suburban Chatsworth.
Tainted milk may sicken more babies, China says
BEIJING: China's Health Ministry is warning that its investigation into contaminated milk powder may uncover additional cases of babies who have fallen ill from the tainted product. Today, the official Xinhua News Agency quoted the ministry as saying medical agencies were prepared for additional cases. The company at the heart of the problem, Sanlu Group Co., has apologized for its contaminated milk powder, which has been linked to the deaths of two infants and sickened more than 1,200 others in a widening food scandal.
6 indicted in N.J. in execution-style killings
NEWARK, N.J.: Three men and three teenagers were indicted yesterday on murder and other charges in the execution-style slayings that shocked New Jersey's largest city more than a year ago. The grand jury charged all six suspects, who have reputed links to the MS-13 street gang, with murder, attempted murder, robbery and weapons offenses related to the killings on Aug. 4, 2007. Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow said the indictments took a year because charges against the three teens were upgraded from juvenile to adult court and because multiple agencies worked together to make sure the case was airtight. The six suspects are accused of killing three college students who were hanging out behind the Mount Vernon School when they were killed.
Suicide blast kills 22 at Iraqi police celebration
BAGHDAD: A suicide bomber blew herself up yesterday among police officers who were celebrating the release of a comrade from U.S. custody, killing at least 22 people, Iraqi officials said. The suicide attack happened in Diyala, a province northeast of Baghdad where Sunni insurgents have carried out persistent attacks despite security gains elsewhere in the country. The bomber targeted the home of a police commissioner who had been detained by U.S. troops for allegedly cooperating with the Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia. In Baghdad, a double-car bombing struck a busy commercial district, killing 13 people in one of the deadliest attacks in the capital in weeks.
