Tornadoes kill 7-year-old girl, damage homes in Kansas and southern Missour

By: Associated Press | Thursday, March 1, 2007 7:15 PM PST ∞

CAULFIELD, Mo. -- A tornado struck southern Missouri, killing a 7-year-old girl and damaging homes and businesses Thursday, just a few hours after another twister touched down in Kansas, authorities said. - Howell County Sheriff Robbie Crites identified the young victim as Elizabeth Croney. Her mother, father and two brothers were injured when a tornado hit their mobile home in a rural wooded area near West Plains, Crites said.

Paramedics had to use chain saws to cut through debris blocking the road to reach them.

In Caulfield, Rick Jarvis heard the storm ripping through his gas station around dawn. His home next door suffered just minor damage, but the twister shredded the business, ripping down its roof and back wall.

"It sounded like a herd of horses tearing up stuff. When I came out, it was done," said Jarvis, 48.

At least four mobile homes, two houses and two service stations in Caulfield were damaged when the twisters hit around 6:30 a.m., and a tornado also touched down near an elementary school in Caulfield. Two more tornadoes were also reported in the area, said Mike Wade, a dispatcher at the Howell County Sheriff's Office.

The burst of tornadoes was part of a larger line of thunderstorm and snowstorms that stretched from Minnesota to Louisiana. In Nebraska, strong wind and heavy snow caused whiteout conditions in eastern Nebraska that forced the shutdown of 75 miles of Interstate 80.

Tornado watches issued Thursday morning across Alabama led several school systems to close or dismiss students early.

In Kansas' Linn County, along the Missouri state line, a tornado Wednesday night destroyed a power substation, and roofs and siding were torn from buildings, Linn County Emergency Management Director David Yates said. He said some minor injuries were reported.

The storm also ripped out poles and electric lines, but power was expected to be restored by the end of the day, said Paul Norris, operations manager for Heartland Rural Electric Cooperative.

Heavy snow, high winds clobber Midwest, Plains, closing schools and highways

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- A winter storm smacked the Plains and Midwest with heavy, wet snow and blizzard conditions Thursday, with some areas anticipating as much as two feet of snow by Friday.

Hundreds of schools closed in several states, miles of highway were shut down and some airline delayed or canceled flights. At least two people were killed when their car overturned on a slick road in North Dakota.

The storm had moved into Iowa with rain and sleet but changed over to snow around dawn.

The western part of the state, along with regions of Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota, were hit with a blizzard. In western Iowa, 35 mph wind cut visibility to a quarter-mile or less for three consecutive hours; by midday, as much as a foot of snow covered the town of Atlantic.

"It's like whiteout conditions -- you can't really see," said Pat Sinnott, who owns the Pump 'N Munch Too convenience store in Council Bluffs, near the Nebraska border.

She said motorists had been pulling off Interstate 80 and using her phone to call their bosses and say they wouldn't be coming in. A 100-mile stretch of the highway was closed just west of Des Moines to the Nebraska line.

With up to 18 inches of snow expected in parts of Iowa, Gov. Chet Culver to issue a disaster declaration, opening the door for state aid, and authorities warned people to stay off the roads.

"There's a real chance for people to get themselves stranded in some real treacherous conditions," said Jim Saunders, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

In North Dakota, a vehicle went out of control on the slick roads Wednesday, hit a ditch and rolled over, killing a couple on their way home from Texas.

The storm was expected to track northeast to La Crosse, Wis., later Thursday, with heaviest snowfall expected along a line north and west of the storm, forecasters said.

In suburban Milwaukee, part of a supermarket roof collapsed after a morning snowfall. Joe Foltz, who works at the Pick n' Save supermarket, said he heard a crackling shortly before the collapse.

"We thought maybe milk crates crashed on the floor," Foltz said. "About 10 minutes later, it started going down. ... So I rushed everybody out of the emergency exit door and, thank God, we got everybody out."

In Superior, Wis., Angela Jones decided to stay home with her two children after their day care center closed and a blizzard warning was posted.

"It is snowing and blowing. The wind is blowing really hard," said Jones, 31. "The flag out there is whipping around. I am glad I didn't have to go out in this."

As much as 20 inches of snow could fall in her area of northwest Wisconsin through Friday morning, while closer to 8 inches of snow mixed with sleet was expected across the east-central part of the state, the National Weather Service said.

The storm was part of a larger line of thunderstorms and snowstorms that stretched from Minnesota to Louisiana. Tornadoes swept through southern Missouri Thursday morning, killing a 7-year-old girl, authorities said.

In Nebraska, where up to 9 inches of snow had fallen on the Omaha area Thursday morning, the storm closed schools and universities and forced the cancellation of several events. In parts of the city, snow was falling as fast as 2 inches an hour.

More than 140 school districts canceled classes Thursday in Minnesota even before the heavy snow arrived.

By Friday, snowfall totals were expected to be a foot or more in southern and central Minnesota. In northeastern Minnesota, the totals could hit two feet. The weather service warned of blowing snow and possible blizzard conditions in the countryside.

"We're going to get pummeled," National Weather Service meteorologist Byron Paulson said.

Anna Nicole Smith's funeral in Bahamas to feature pink flowers, tight guest list

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) -- Anna Nicole Smith will be buried in a custom-made gown next to her 20-year-old son following an "over the top" memorial service with a tightly controlled guest list, said a friend helping to organize the memorial. - The memorial service, with about 300 guests at an undisclosed church, will feature many pink flowers, her favorite color, and songs from a well-known performer whose name organizers aren't ready to disclose, said the friend, Patrik Simpson of Beverly Hills, Calif.

"It will be a very beautiful, Anna Nicole send-off," Simpson told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday night in the Bahamian capital of Nassau. "Of course it will be over the top because it's Anna Nicole."

Simpson's partner, Pol Atteu, has designed more than a dozen gowns for Smith, including the one in which she was to be buried in a "very elegant" casket that will most likely be closed, he said. He declined to describe the dress.

Smith's body will be flown to the Bahamas by private plane early Friday and the funeral will take place hours later, said lawyer Richard Milstein, the court-appointed advocate for Smith's 5-month-old daughter, Dannielynn.

Smith, 39, died in a Florida hotel on Feb. 8 -- setting off a battle over her burial and for custody of Dannielynn between her partner, Howard K. Stern, her mother, Virgie Arthur, and ex-boyfriend Larry Birkhead.

Arthur had wanted to bury Smith in her native Texas. But Stern insisted the former Playboy Playmate wanted to be buried next to her son, Daniel, who died of apparent drug-related causes as he visited his mother three days after she gave birth to Dannielynn in the Bahamas.

The wrangling over Smith's body ended Wednesday when a Florida appeals court upheld a judge's ruling that allowed Smith to be buried in the Bahamas and Arthur decided not to appeal that decision.

Wayne Munroe, the Bahamian attorney for Smith's estate, said the Florida court ruling was "common sense."

"Everyone in this whole saga knows what her wishes were about every aspect of her affairs -- custody, property, everything," Munroe told the AP. "But people are steadfastly trying to get their wishes met and not hers. Nobody seems to care about this woman's wishes."

A Bahamian court has scheduled a hearing in the custody dispute for mid-March.

Smith married Texas oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II in 1994 when he was 89 and she was 26. She had been fighting his family over his estimated $500 million fortune since his death in 1995, and her baby daughter could inherit millions.

Simpson said each "faction" -- Stern, Arthur and Birkhead -- had to submit a guest list in advance and each would be limited to 100 people at the church service.

"It will be something very beautiful, very private, very over the top and very pink," he said.

The burial at Lakeview Memorial Gardens & Mausoleums will be much more intimate, with about 30 people, he said.

At Daniel's funeral, Smith and Stern erected a large green tent that blocked the media and other spectators from the service. Organizers of the former pinup's service are expected to do the same.

Simpson, a 38-year-old model talent scout who was friends with Smith for the past five years, said he and his partner plan to place photos of themselves with their 15-year-old daughter, who sang at Daniel's funeral, inside her casket, and other close friends also will likely add photos.

He recalled Smith as a warm and generous person who always remembered their daughter's birthday and other special events.

"She was just a good friend, a good mother, a great person," Simpson said. "She had a heart of gold and would give you the shirt off her own back."

Thousands airlifted after avalanche in Kashmir; 8 feared dead in Pakistan

SRINAGAR, India (AP) -- Avalanches and landslides in Kashmir forced Indian security teams to airlift thousands of people to safe areas, while at least eight Pakistani soldiers were feared dead after they were buried under a snowslide near the Afghan border, officials said Thursday.

Both incidents occurred in the Himalayas, about 150 miles apart.

Landslides have blocked the road between Srinagar and Jammu, the winter capital of Indian Kashmir, and thousands of stranded people on both sides of the highway were being airlifted to safe areas. Srinagar is the state's summer capital.

More than 3,000 people have been rescued in the past two days, senior police official Shakeel Beigh said Thursday. Another 5,000 are waiting to be airlifted, he added.

Among the rescued were three foreign tourists -- Gay Landen of Israel, Ido Neigu of Canada, and Franciska Rogne of Norway. They were skiing Wednesday at Gulmarg, a tourist resort about 30 miles northwest of Srinagar, when they veered off the trail and then could not find their way back because of an avalanche.

A joint team of police, army and tourism officials rescued the skiers from the 13,500-foot-high slopes after eight hours, said Sarmad Hafiz, a state tourist officer.

Last month, an avalanche in the area killed Shaun Cratzev, 31, of Australia.

Frequent rain and heavy snowfall in the last month have triggered avalanches and landslides in Kashmir.

Officials said it may take five more days to clear the highway if the weather does not get worse.

A Pakistani official said eight Pakistani soldiers were feared dead after they were buried in an avalanche Thursday while patrolling on foot near the Afghan border.

The incident occurred near the snow-covered mountainous tribal area of Kachkol, about 45 miles northwest of Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier province.

Arbab Arif, in charge of security for the country's northwestern tribal regions, said rescuers had pulled out five troops, but that at least eight to 10 were still buried in the avalanche.

"The chances of their survival are bleak," Arif said, without elaborating.

Pakistan has deployed about 80,000 troops in its tribal regions, including Kachkol, to flush out members of the Taliban, al-Qaida, and their supporters who are believed to be hiding there.

Paul McCartney, Heather Mills McCartney in court for divorce hearing

LONDON (AP) -- Paul McCartney and his estranged wife, Heather Mills McCartney, appeared in London's High Court Thursday for a preliminary hearing in their divorce case. - Mills McCartney, 38, said nothing as she arrived at the courthouse for the closed session. The former Beatle arrived at the court's back door soon after.

McCartney whistled and snapped his fingers as he left the building after the two-hour hearing, flashing a peace sign to photographers stationed outside the court's parking lot before being driven off in a waiting car.

Mills McCartney left through a back door about half an hour later.

The former model, 38, and the 64-year-old musician separated in May 2006 after four years of marriage and began divorce proceedings in July. They have a 3-year-old daughter, Beatrice.

British law forbids publishing details of allegations in divorce cases. Mills McCartney began legal action against a number of media outlets after disparaging claims about her husband, alleged to have been contained in divorce court papers drawn up on her behalf, were reported in the press.

British group starts march to mark abolition of slave trade

HULL, England (AP) -- Marchers wearing yokes and chains set off Thursday on a 250-mile trek to London to mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the British slave trade.

The northeastern port city of Hull was the home of William Wilberforce, who led a 20-year campaign in Parliament to abolish the trade -- a goal achieved on March 25, 1807.

However, it was another 26 years before Britain banned slavery in its possessions, mainly in the Caribbean.

One of the marchers, Andrew Winter, said Britain's history as one of Europe's leading slave-trading nations is "a scar on our nation that we have not dealt with."

"Foremost we want to bring about an apology from Britain and Europe and the slave trading nations, saying sorry for our involvement in that," Winter said.

William Wilberforce, a great-great-great-grandson of the parliamentarian, and Kate Davson, a great-great-great-granddaughter, joined the group as it left Holy Trinity Church in Hull.

The group plans to be in London by March 24 to join a Walk of Witness led by the leaders of the Church of England, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Archbishop of York John Sentamu.

On the Net:

Lifeline Expedition, http://www.lifelineexpedition.co.uk

Wilberforce 2007, http://www.wilberforce2007.com

Teacher allegedly cut boy's tongue with scissors for talking in class

ROME (AP) -- A novice teacher in Milan is under criminal investigation for allegedly using scissors to cut the tongue of a second-grader for talking in class, Italian news agencies said Thursday. - The 7-year-old boy, who has not been publicly identified, needed six stitches in his tongue from the Feb. 20 incident, said Piero Porciani, a lawyer for the child's parents, a Tunisian couple.

The teacher, 22, was being investigated for suspected voluntary harm of the boy, the ANSA news agency said.

The office of Milan prosecutor Marco Ghezzi said he wasn't there and couldn't give out any information about an investigation.

Porciani told The Associated Press by telephone from Milan that the teacher has been suspended from the school while the incident is investigated.

The mother has said in TV interviews that her son is exhibiting a fear of knives in the kitchen after his tongue was cut.

"He's not eating, he's not sleeping, he doesn't want to go school. He cries a lot because of the pain," Porciani said.

Italian news reports said the teacher, who was assisting the main instructor, repeatedly asked the child to be quiet when her colleague left the classroom briefly.

When the boy continued to talk and move about the classroom, the teacher allegedly told the child she would take scissors to his tongue, then told him to stick out his tongue when he refused to quiet down.

"It's an absolutely unjustifiable act that calls for zero tolerance," said Anna Maria Dominici, the school superintendent for Lombardy, the region that includes Milan.

According to Porciani, the teacher, who was not identified, said she didn't mean to cut the tongue.

Newspapers said the teacher claimed she was only joking by talking about using the scissors.

Texas couple arrested in northern Mexico for illegally taking Mexican baby

MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) -- A Texas couple was arrested in Monterrey after inquiring about a visa at the U.S. Consulate here for a 2-week-old baby boy they said was given to them, police said Thursday.

Sergio Velez, 42, and Tomasa Ibarra, 39, both of San Antonio, Texas, were arrested outside the U.S. Consulate late Wednesday, Monterrey police said in a news release.

Velez, a U.S. citizen, and Ibarra, a legal U.S. resident, told police a 21-year-old woman they met in the northern state of San Luis Potosi, where Ibarra is from, offered them the baby in December.

The couple were being detained and face charges of trying to buy or rob a child, said Epifanio Vasquez, a spokesman for Monterrey police.

The U.S. Consulate in Monterrey did not respond immediately to requests for comment from The Associated Press.

The couple told police the baby's mother gave them the baby because she was too poor to care for him. They said they paid for the woman's expenses during childbirth but denied buying the baby boy.

"(The mother) didn't ask us for money," Velez told the newspaper El Norte. "She just wanted money for the child's birth because she didn't have any."

The couple told police they had traveled to Monterrey a year ago to try to adopt a child but were rejected because they were living in the United States. They said they hadn't tried to adopt in Texas because it is too expensive.

"We thought it would be easy to do it this way but we didn't do it in bad faith," Ibarra told El Norte. "We wanted to do it the right way, that's why we came to ask."

The baby boy is in the care of child welfare authorities in Monterrey, police said.

Lawmakers propose fluorescent green plates for predators

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- The cars of sexual predators would be marked by fluorescent green license plates under a unique proposal before Ohio lawmakers. - A bill introduced Wednesday by two legislators, Democratic Rep. Michael DeBose and Republican Sen. Kevin Coughlin, would require all habitual and child-oriented sex offenders to display the easy-to-spot plates.

It is something no other state has tried, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, though some require a designation to appear on sex offenders' driver's licenses. An earlier Ohio proposal to require pink plates for sex offenders was unsuccessful.

Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland, who took office in January, would sign the bill, press secretary Keith Dailey said.

Christine Link, executive director American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, criticized the proposed requirement as political grandstanding. She said it could leave children with the idea that anyone without one of the special plates was safe to approach.

But Coughlin said the plates would send parents and children an instant message to beware. Ohio already requires repeat drunken drivers to display bright yellow license tags.

The bill is the latest in a series of new laws Ohio has passed to crack down on sex crimes against children.

Among them: tougher mandatory minimum sentences for rapists whose victims are under age 13; increased penalties for public indecency involving victims under 13; and mandatory tracking devices after those classified as sexually violent predators serve their prison sentences.

After 5 weeks of hiccups and no successful cure, Florida girls says they finally just stopped

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- She sipped pickle juice, held her breath, breathed into a bag, even went to a neurologist, but for more than five weeks nothing would stop a 15-year-old girl's rapid hiccups -- until they finally just stopped on their own. - After trying countless remedies and attracting national media attention, Jennifer Mee said her hiccups suddenly stopped around 5 p.m. Wednesday. No one is certain why.

"Right now, my nose is burning and my throat hurts," she told the St. Petersburg Times, but she said she felt a lot better than she has in weeks.

Jennifer had started hiccuping Jan. 23 close to 50 times a minute and said it only stopped when she was sleeping.

She saw an infectious disease specialist, a neurologist, a chiropractor, a hypnotist and an acupuncturist. She tried a patented device that is designed to stop hiccups, plus all the old remedies. Her mother called the media two weeks ago to try to find more help for her daughter, who ended up on NBC's "Today" show.

According to the National Institutes of Health, hiccups can be triggered by anything from spicy foods to stress, and they can start for no reason at all. They're caused by involuntary contractions of the diaphragm, which causes the vocal cords to close briefly, making that distinctive sound.

Stubborn Viking statue won't budge

SEATTLE (AP) -- Unwanted when it was proposed in the early 1960s, a bronze statue of Leif Erikson on shores of Seattle's Shilshole Bay seems to be exacting revenge. - Crews attempting to relocate the statue have been unable to budge the 17-foot-tall Viking from his pedestal.

"That's one stubborn Scandinavian," remarked Kristine Leander of the Leif Erikson International Foundation.

On Tuesday, workers spent eight hours drilling at the base, pounding on the concrete and tugging with the crane. They found that concrete poured into the statue's hollow legs had attached it securely to the base.

"We didn't want to pull harder. You pull hard enough, it comes apart," said Mike Hascall, co-owner of Artech, the company hired to move the statue to suburban Kent to be refurbished before it is relocated to a new plaza about 200 feet away.

About two dozen people came to watch workers move the statue of the Viking many believe was the first European to reach America, 500 years before Columbus. They went home disappointed after a ceremony scheduled for Tuesday noon was postponed.

The ceremony came off as planned on Wednesday, but the statue didn't.

Leander said workers might be able to move the statue by Thursday.

The local Scandinavian community paid $42,000 for the statue 45 years ago, but the Seattle Parks Department didn't want it, according to a Seattle Times story, "on the grounds it might set a precedent for other ethnic groups."

Three years after the statue was first proposed, the Port of Seattle offered to place it at Shilshole Bay, despite it being called "not distinctive" by a member of the Municipal Arts Commission.

Cycling doctor sues over collision with roller-skating girl next door

MORRISTOWN, N.J. (AP) -- A bicycling doctor is suing a roller-skating child neighbor, claiming the youngster caused a collision that left him with a broken collar bone.

Dr. Alexander Dlugi, a prominent endocrinologist, maintains he approached Lauren Ellis, then 11, from behind, shouted "watch out" and rang his bicycle bell. As the girl turned around on her in-line skates, the two collided, and the doctor tumbled from his bike.

This week, a seven-member jury is hearing the doctor's claim that the girl was negligent in the 2003 accident.

Dlugi's lawyer, Thomas Jardim, said the doctor's injury did not heal properly and he had to have surgery in February 2004, losing a significant amount of time at work and income. Dlugi, now 54, has lost mobility in the shoulder and is no longer able to enjoy biking and tennis and has trouble sleeping, Jardim said.

The girl was knocked to the ground in the collision and bruised, but her parents have not filed a countersuit.

"It may seem an odd thing," Jardim told the Daily Record of Parsippany of the lawsuit against the child, "but people are responsible for their actions."

With mom's back turned, toddler boards subway train

NEW YORK (AP) -- In the split second that his mother let go of his hand, 22-month-old Stuart Tito scampered onto a subway train as it pulled away.

"I looked down, he wasn't there," Blanca Amarilis told the Daily News in Wednesday editions. "I said, 'Stuart!' and a man told me he went on the train. It was so fast. I prayed to God to protect my son and let me find him again."

A mysterious Samaritan came to the rescue -- returning the toddler to his panicked family.

Stuart dashed onto the subway car as his mother let down her guard for a split second to wipe his baby brother's runny nose.

That was enough time for Stuart's little legs to carry him onto the Manhattan-bound No. 7 just as the doors slammed shut and it pulled away.

A woman on the train saw it happen. She scooped up Stuart, got off at the next station, double backed and spotted Stuart's anxious-looking father, Victor Tito, 32.

"Is this your son?" she asked.

"Yes!" he responded, enveloping his son in a hug.

It seems that Stuart has yet to learn his lesson.

As the family returned to the same station later in the day, he tried to make another dash for a No. 7 train as it roared in.

This time, his mom's grip remained firm.

Georgia lawmakers want to toughen no-knock warrant requirements in wake of deadly shootout

ATLANTA (AP) -- A group of lawmakers wants to make it harder for police to use "no-knock" warrants in the wake of a shootout that left an elderly woman dead after plainclothes officers stormed her home unannounced in a search for drugs. - The measure would allow judges to grant the warrants only if officers can prove a "significant and imminent danger to human life."

The measure was prompted by the Nov. 21 shootout between Kathryn Johnston and three police officers during a no-knock search of her Atlanta home. When the officers entered without warning, police say that Johnston, 92, fired a handgun at them and that the officers returned fire, killing her. An autopsy concluded she was shot five or six times.

Narcotics officers said an informant had claimed there was cocaine in the home, but none was found.

Democratic Sen. Vincent Fort, a sponsor of the bill, said the case was a warning that it has become too easy to obtain "no-knock" warrants.

"Every citizen ought to be safe and secure in their homes," Fort said. "A no-knock warrant should be a special warrant, not a standard. And that's what it's evolved into."

An Associated Press review of all no-knock warrants filed in Atlanta's Fulton County last year found that the authorities involved often give scant detail when applying for the warrants.

No-knock warrants are intended to prevent suspects from getting rid of evidence and to protect officers from violent suspects. They typically are used to search for drugs and weapons.

On the Net:

Senate Bill 259: http://www.legis.state.ga.us

Japanese life expectancy rises for both women and men

TOKYO (AP) -- Life expectancy for Japanese women -- already the longest in the world -- has risen by nearly one year, the Health Ministry said Thursday, citing the latest census data. - Female life expectancy increased to 85.52 years in 2005 from 84.60 years in 2000, Health Ministry official Morio Akimoto said.

The latest figures were calculated based on the fixed census data taken in 2005. The census is taken every five years in Japan.

Akimoto said Japanese women's life expectancy remained the world's longest for the 21st straight year, ahead of Hong Kong and Spain, according to U.N. demographic figures.

For men, life expectancy rose to 78.56 years from 77.72 years, the fourth-longest in the world after Hong Kong, Iceland, Switzerland, Akimoto said.

Japan has long been touted as one of the world's longest-living populations, but experts are worried that changing eating patterns -- from the traditional fish and rice-based diet to fast food such as hamburgers and instant noodles -- may soon change this.

Activist: 12 North Korean defectors arrive in U.S. for asylum, largest recent group

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- A South Korean activist said Thursday that 12 North Korean refugees have arrived in the United States to seek asylum -- the largest group from the communist nation to have recently defected there.

The activist, who has previously arranged North Koreans' travel to the U.S., told The Associated Press that the latest arrivals brought the total number of North Koreans to 30 who have sought refuge in the United States under a 2004 law.

He said the refugees had arrived Wednesday night but did not immediately give their exact location, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was still in the country from where they departed.

The group includes two men and 10 women, the activist said, and they range in age from 7 to 55. One of the 12 defectors had been living for about a year in the South Korean Embassy in Beijing, the activist said.

The U.S. has been criticized by some activist groups for being slow to help North Koreans under the 2004 North Korea Human Rights Act, which mandates that they be offered such assistance. It also calls for efforts to improve the widely criticized rights situation inside the country.

Thousands of North Koreans are believed to be living in hiding in China, which treats them as economic migrants and -- if caught -- returns them to their homeland where they face likely imprisonment and possible torture.

Many North Koreans seek asylum in South Korea, which has accepted some 10,000 refugees since the 1953 end of the Korean War -- most having arrived in recent years to escape a famine that began in the 1990s in the North and has killed as many as 2 million people.

The two Koreas remain technically at war and their border is one of the most heavily fortified in the world, meaning that North Koreans seeking refuge mostly escape through their country's loosely controlled northern frontier with China.

Australian state bans YouTube from schools to curb bullying

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- An Australian state has banned the online video Web site YouTube from government schools in a crackdown on cyber-bullying, a minister said Thursday.

Victoria, Australia's second most populous state, banned the popular video-sharing site from its 1,600 government schools after a gang of male school students videotaped their assault on a 17-year-old girl on the outskirts of Melbourne.

The assault, which is being investigated by police, was uploaded on YouTube late last year.

Education Services Minister Jacinta Allan said the schools and their Internet service providers already filtered the Web sites that were available to students, and YouTube had been added to a list of blocked sites.

The state government "has never tolerated bullying in schools and this zero tolerance approach extends to the online world," Allan said.

"All students have the right to learn in a safe and supportive learning environment -- this includes making students' experience of the virtual world of learning as safe and productive as possible," she said.

YouTube is a free video-sharing site that lets users upload, view, and share video clips.

4 Mexican soldiers charged with raping, killing 73-year-old Indian woman

VERACRUZ, Mexico (AP) -- Four Mexican soldiers were arrested and accused of raping and murdering a 73-year-old woman in a case that has outraged Indian groups in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz.

Prosecutors said Wednesday the victim was bound, beaten and sodomized on Sunday and died at a hospital from injuries sustained in the attack.

The four soldiers -- whose names and ranks were not made public -- were arraigned late Tuesday in the city of Orizaba, Veracruz, on charges of rape and homicide, state Attorney General Emeterio Lopez Marquez said.

Authorities say the attack occurred in the mountain town of Soledad Atzompa, about 120 miles east of Mexico City.

The soldiers apparently will face the charges in civilian courts. It was unclear whether they might face additional counts in Mexico's military justice system.

The town's mayor, Javier Perez Pascuaza, has demanded that authorities investigate and that soldiers be withdrawn from the predominantly Indian region. On Tuesday, the army dismantled three nearby military encampments.

Florida officer surrenders in drug trafficking conspiracy case, arrested after FBI sting

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) -- A veteran police detective turned himself in after he and three other officers were charged with protecting what they thought were mob shipments of drugs as well as stolen art, diamonds and watches. - Hollywood Detective Thomas Simcox, 50, surrendered to federal agents Wednesday and was released on $350,000 bond after a hearing. The other three officers appeared in court on Feb. 23 and were ordered released on bond.

Defense attorney Bruce Udolf said his client was not the group's leader and has been cooperating with investigators for roughly a month. Lawyers for the others, also officers in Hollywood, have described their clients as devoted police officers and family men, but declined to comment on specifics.

The four officers were charged last week after a two-year FBI sting operation. The FBI accuses the four of agreeing to "protect and facilitate" illegal activities for a group they thought was a "criminal organization based out of New York." In fact, they were dealing with undercover FBI agents posing as mobsters. Simcox was paid $16,000 for his participation, according to the FBI.

The four officers could face life imprisonment if convicted of drug trafficking conspiracy.

Among their alleged "protection" activities was escorting a multi-kilo load of heroin from Miami Beach. Another operation involved security for an illegal poker game aboard a yacht, and another job called for delivering $1 million in supposedly stolen diamonds to Atlantic City, N.J.

Colorado's Columbine High School, site of deadly 1999 shootings, evacuated after bomb threat

LITTLETON, Colo. (AP) -- Columbine High School was evacuated Thursday after officials received at least one call about a bomb threat, authorities said.

Jefferson County Sheriff's spokeswoman Jacki Kelley said students were being taken to a nearby park while bomb squads and dogs searched the school. Eight years ago, Columbine was the site of the nation's deadliest school massacre when two students opened fire on their classmates.

School officials said Columbine would be closed for the rest of the day.

Kelley said she believed more than one threat was called in Thursday beginning at 9:30 a.m. She did not know whether the caller made reference to the April 20, 1999, attack by Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, who shot and killed 13 people before taking their own lives.

"Most of the threats that have been associated to that school made reference to past events that occurred there," Kelley said. "But a bomb threat to a school is as serious at any school as it is at Columbine."

Columbine has about 1,850 students, said Marlene Desmond, spokeswoman for Jefferson County Schools.

The threat was being handled the same as other threats elsewhere, Kelley said.

Fearing a fattening populace, French government orders warnings on food advertising

PARIS (AP) -- Less fat, less sugar, less salt: Even the mostly svelte French are cracking down.

Beginning Thursday, the government ordered food ads to carry cautions telling the French to stop snacking, exercise and eat more fruits and vegetables.

With processed snacks and fast food encroaching on France's tables and culinary traditions, health officials fear the nation's youth face a growing risk of obesity.

This from a nation where just slightly more than 9 percent of the 63.4 million citizens are obese and fewer than a third are overweight, according to government figures. In the United States, by comparison, one-third of adults are obese, about two-thirds are overweight. Several Mediterranean and Eastern European countries have similar statistics.

The ad restrictions fly in the face of the image of the trim and cuisine-conscious French, perpetuated by books like Mireille Guiliano's best seller "French Women Don't Get Fat." The book argues that the French can eat croissants and foie gras without ballooning because they take time to savor flavors and eat judiciously.

But the growth of processed snacks and ready-made meals with high fat, salt and sugar are changing that image.

And France and the World Health Organization are particularly worried about an obesity epidemic striking the young and bringing future health risks with it, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. WHO warns that 20 percent of children across Europe are overweight, their ranks swelling by 400,000 a year.

Other European countries have already taken measures along the lines of France.

Sweden and Norway forbid broadcast advertising aimed at children. Ireland imposed a ban on TV ads for candy and fast food and prohibits using celebrities and sports stars to promote junk food to kids. And Britain has adopted nutritional guidance for food packages.

France's new health guidance affects advertisements on television, radio and billboards and the Internet for processed, sweetened or salted food and drinks. The Health Ministry, which designed the measure, says it will help children "guide themselves" in making eating decisions.

Advertisers who refuse to run the messages will be fined 1.5 percent of the cost of the ad, to be paid to the National Institute for Health Education. They currently have a choice of four warnings, which Health Minister Xavier Bertrand said would be regularly updated to keep them effective:

"For your health, eat at least five fruits and vegetables a day."

"For your health, undertake regular physical activity."

"For your health, avoid eating too much fat, too much sugar, too much salt."

"For your health, avoid snacking between meals."

The messages could already be seen Thursday. A Coke ad seen on a billboard carried the message about eating fruits and vegetables.

Some French consumers welcomed the move, while others said they weren't enough.

"The (food) companies should stop putting whatever they want in their products," said Fatiah Ghorab, shopping in central Paris on Thursday. "If the companies don't make an effort," the government's measures accomplish nothing, she said.

France's National Association of Food Industries has advised its members to affix the health messages "to show that the industry prefers information and education measures."

Some consumer groups have already criticized the new advertising effort, saying the health messages will only have a tiny impact and that consumers will ignore them after a couple of weeks.

The UFC-Que Choisir consumer group tested the impact of a similar effort in a study of 700 people and it showed that half failed to notice the message.

Protesters clash with Danish police during disputed eviction of squatters

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) -- Dozens of people were arrested after angry protesters threw cobblestones at police Thursday when an anti-terror squad started a disputed eviction of squatters from a downtown building, police said.

Three people were treated for injuries, including a German citizen who was hospitalized after being hit in the head with an object, according to a hospital spokeswoman. Two Danes were treated for minor injuries.

The highly publicized eviction has drawn ire from the squatters and other youth, who have viewed the former theater as free public housing for years.

Dozens of onlookers clashed with hundreds of police officers who took part in the eviction, which began shortly after 7 a.m. when a helicopter hoisted down members of Denmark's anti-terror police on the building's roof.

Officers with anti-riot gear then sealed off the surrounding streets as police began bringing out squatters.

More than 70 people were arrested, including at least 35 people who had barricaded themselves inside the house. Dozens were arrested for throwing objects at officers, and trying to cross police lines. Police spokesman Per Larsen said foreign citizens were likely among those arrested, but had no details on nationalities.

"The morning action happened with military precision," Larsen said. "It went by the book."

It was unclear how many people were inside the house when the eviction began.

Dozens of protesters quickly gathered behind police lines shouting "stop police brutality." Nearby shops, fearing riots, began boarding their windows.

Copenhagen University Hospital spokeswoman Lisbeth Westergaard said the injured German was in his 20s, but did not reveal his identity.

"He is doing fine and he will soon be discharged," she said.

Police monitored border crossings with Sweden and Germany because Danish squatters have used the Internet to call for foreign squatters to help.

In the southwestern city of Malmo, three men arrested for carrying flammables and explosives were suspected of heading to Copenhagen to join the protests, police spokesman Merima Lulic said.

"You could tell they were on their way to start riots," Lulic said.

The eviction has been planned since last year, when two courts ordered the squatters to leave the house and hand it over to a Christian congregation that bought it six years ago.

The squatters refused to leave, saying the city had no right to sell the four-story building while it was still in use.

In December, a rally to protest the eviction turned violent. Some of the around 1,000 protesters threw cobblestones, iron bars and fireworks at police, who detained some 300 people.

Georgia island preserved for 'average' folks is under pressure from luxury developers

JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga. (AP) -- For nearly 60 years, Jekyll Island has been Everyman's island.

A 1950 Georgia law explicitly says the state-owned coastal strip should be accessible to Georgians of "average income." What constitutes "average income" is a matter of debate -- there's one four-star hotel, and the many ranch-style homes built in the 1960s are worth more than a half-million dollars by virtue of being so close to the beach.

But for the most part, this is a middlebrow, Rotary Club sort of place, with modest low-rise hotels like the Buccaneer Beach Resort and the Days Inn, both at $89 a night.

Now, however, it's starting to look a little shabby, and the politically appointed keepers of the island are entertaining proposals from developers for luxury hotels and million-dollar homes -- an idea that has some people worried that Jekyll Island will put itself out of reach to the common man.

"There are so few of these places left, why can't this be kept for the people?" asked Frank Mirasola, 75, who retired to the island 10 years ago. "Not everybody can afford a $500,000 condo."

Connected to the mainland city of Brunswick by a six-mile causeway, Jekyll Island is known as "Georgia's Jewel." Under law, it must remain two-thirds undeveloped, making it one of the least built-up East Coast islands reachable by car.

The 7.5-mile island wasn't always so accessible. From 1886 until the 1940s, it was the private winter playground of America's wealthiest -- Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, J.P. Morgan, Joseph Pulitzer. They built hulking Victorian "cottages" that by anyone else's standards are mansions.

The millionaires' exclusive Jekyll Island Club fell into decline with the Depression and folded during World War II. In 1947, the state bought the island for $675,000 to set aside as a park for budget-minded tourists.

Because of the state's limits on development, the island was spared from the rapid buildup that swept neighboring St. Simons Island and Tybee Island off Savannah.

"Developers have figured this out and there's almost a gold-rush mentality on the Georgia coast right now," said Chris DeScherer of the Southern Environmental Law Center in Atlanta.

Jekyll Island has more than 600 private homes, eight hotels, a convention center, four golf courses and a water park. (In one of the few holdovers from the gilded years, there is a $399-a-night Presidential Suite at the Jekyll Island Club.)

However, decades of wear and tear are slowing the influx of visitors and hurting business, said Bill Donohue, executive director of the Jekyll Island Authority, which manages the place for the state.

Conventions have stopped coming because of the musty, outdated hotels. For 40 years, more than 1,000 Georgia Rotary Club members used the island for their spring convention, but they haven't been back since 2003 because of complaints about the rooms. The group now meets in Sandestin, Fla.

The water park's wave pool shut down last summer so that a cracked basin could be fixed. Golfing has declined, and the amount the island collects in greens fees each year has dropped by about $750,000 from a decade ago.

The island's authority has solicited ideas from developers and is finding itself under pressure to make the island more stylish, like other island resorts.

No one is talking about upsetting the two-thirds rule. But on the already built-up part of the island, one development team has proposed "high-end, luxury redevelopment" where soccer fields and a 4-H Center for children now stand. Another developer submitted a plan for 2,000 new homes and condominiums, ranging from $350,000 to more than $1 million.

Georgia House Speaker Glenn Richardson favors more luxury hotels, as well as budget options, describing Jekyll as a potentially "multimillion-, maybe billion-dollar asset."

"Can you imagine if a Ritz Carlton or Four Seasons or something like that, a St. Regis, came in there, and each one of them took over one of the golf courses, developed the villas around them and a hotel on the beach?" Richardson said.

Such talk has raised fears the island will revert to an exclusive retreat for the wealthy and spoil the place as an ideal spot for nature walks, bird-watching and beach vacations on the cheap.

"There's not a whole lot to do here, but that's why you come," said Kay Royer, 59, of Sparrows Point, Md., who has visited twice a year with her husband since he retired as a steelworker in 1999. "It's not overbuilt and congested, compared to Hilton Head (S.C.) or some place where it's totally overdone."

Donohue said he understands the fear and suggested that luxury development could be combined with more affordable lodging without running afoul of the "average income" law ("What we say is `all' Georgians. I don't know what the `average' Georgian is.") and without utterly transforming the island.

"Everybody out there says, `If you give me all the oceanfront property, I can make it like Panama City and you'll make a billion dollars,"' Donohue said. "You may think it's supposed to look like South Beach, but we don't."

Ed Boshears, a former state senator and member of the Jekyll Island Authority board, said the island needs new hotels and an updated convention center, but warned against pricing it beyond the means of most folks.

"An average Georgian is who's been coming to Jekyll Island for the last 50 years -- bus drivers, farmers, church groups, teachers groups," Boshears said. "We don't attract investment bankers from New York."

Final 3 Hells Angels members sentenced in Nevada casino brawl

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- The final three Hells Angels motorcycle club members were sentenced Thursday in a state criminal case stemming from a deadly brawl with rival Mongols biker gang members in a Nevada casino almost five years ago. - Maurice "Pete" Eunice, James Hannigan and Rodney Cox received one to 2 1/2 year prison sentences after Clark County District Court Judge Douglas Herndon said he would follow terms agreed to in a plea deal last October.

But Herndon allowed the sentences for felony battery to run concurrent with federal prison sentences the men received stemming from the April 2002 Laughlin River Run melee.

Eunice, 56, of Lakeside, Calif., will surrender next month to serve 2 1/2 years in federal prison for his conviction on a charge of battery in the aid of racketeering in the federal case. Hannigan 39, of Mountain View, Calif., is due to surrender to federal authorities in May for a two-year sentence. Cox, 44, of Phoenix, remains in custody.

Defense lawyers said outside court that Eunice, Hannigan and Cox probably will not serve any time in state prison.

The brief sentencing hearing brought to an end prosecutions of Hells Angels for the bloody brawl that left two Hells Angels and a rival Mongols member dead and at least a dozen people hurt at the Harrah's Laughlin casino.

"With respect to everyone who was charged, it's over," said Louis Palazzo, a defense lawyer who represented another one of the six Hells Angels who pleaded in October to reduced state and federal charges, ending a federal trial of 11 men.

Calvin Schaefer, 37, of Chandler, Ariz., Dale Leedom, 45, of Two Rivers, Alaska, and Raymond Foakes, 43, of Petaluma, Calif., were previously sentenced in both the state and federal cases.

One club member -- Frederick Donahue, 42 -- remains a fugitive on murder and attempted murder charges in the state case. Prosecutor Bill Kephart said the state intends to prosecute if Donahue is apprehended.

The judge on Friday gave Cox credit for time already served in Nevada. Because he has 20 months remaining on a 75-month federal prison sentence on an unrelated drug conviction in Arizona, he won't serve any additional time on the Nevada charge, said his lawyer, Ross Goodman.

Federal charges were dismissed against 36 Hells Angels after prosecutors failed to prove the club was a criminal enterprise similar to the Mafia.

Six current and former Mongols remain scheduled for trial in November in Clark County District Court on murder and other charges stemming from the battle, which was videotaped by casino security cameras.

Missouri man charged in kidnapping case indicted on child pornography allegations

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A Missouri man accused of kidnapping and molesting two boys was indicted Thursday on federal charges he took pornographic pictures and videos of one of the youngsters. - The indictment marked the first federal charges against Michael Devlin, 41, a former pizzeria manager from the St. Louis suburbs.

Dominatrix charged at home she leased from rabbinical school in NYC suburb

NEW YORK (AP) -- A dominatrix was arrested on prostitution charges at a suburban estate that she leased from the rabbinical school next door, and school officials on Thursday began clearing the property of whips and chains.

But that's not all the work that must be done.

"Once everything is out, there has to be a spiritual cleansing," said Rabbi Samuel of the Orthodox Khal Adas Kashau yeshiva. "We won't go close to that place until they move out. No, no, no -- heaven forbid."

Sandra Chemero, 46, was charged Wednesday with prostitution and criminal possession of a stun gun at what she called "The Sovereign Estate" -- four acres in tony Bedford that she leased last year.

"It's like a calamity," the rabbi said. "I've never heard such a thing, and I don't want to hear about it. It's terrible."

The rabbi, who identified himself only as Rabbi Samuel, said yeshiva officials immediately ordered Chemero's eviction on grounds that she broke the lease by engaging in illegal activity and using the home for a business.

Chemero could not immediately be reached for comment. She has a residential phone in Connecticut, but the number is unlisted.

She advertised her services on a Web site, promising that the estate was "a place like no other. ... There is something unique about serving your mistress in a home designed and appointed especially for her enjoyment."

Photos showed the dominatrix in spiked heels and a low-cut, one-piece black outfit, with a chain around her waist.

Bedford police Lt. Robert Mazurak called the arrest "very unusual for someone in this town," which is home to Martha Stewart, Ralph Lauren and Glenn Close. "It's a quality-of-life issue. We acted rather quickly," he said.

Although there's nothing illegal about working as a dominatrix, Chemero was arrested after a police investigation that began in December turned up evidence of prostitution.

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