6 die in N.Y. church van crash

WOODBURY, N.Y., Sept. 18 (UPI) -- A church van loaded with 14 people blew a tire and rolled in New York state Saturday afternoon, leaving six people dead, authorities said.

Hospital officials said at least four people were in critical condition following the accident, which occurred shortly after 5 p.m. EDT on the New York Thruway 5 miles north of Harriman, Gannett News Service reported.

Authorities had not provided the name of the church whose members were in the 16-passenger van.

UPI

Six men freed day after they were arrested during pope visit

London, England (CNN) -- Six men arrested Friday morning in London on suspicion of terrorism related to Pope Benedict XVI's visit were freed overnight without charge, an official said.

Scotland Yard spokesman Alan Crockford told CNN that the men were released around midnight (7 p.m. ET Saturday).

Their release came after police searched eight homes in north and east London and two businesses in central London, including a street-cleaning operation, London's Metropolitan Police said, according to the Press Association

The searches found no weapons or suspicious materials, it said.

The six are aged 26, 27, 29, 36, 40 and 50, it said.

The 29-year-old was arrested at a home in north London Friday afternoon; the others were arrested as they prepared to start their shift as street cleaners before 6 a.m. Friday, it said.

Prior to the men's release, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the pope and his representatives were not worried about the arrests.

CNN

Nigerian president announces 2011 election bid

Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) -- Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan officially declared Saturday that he will run in the 2011 elections, lauding his achievements in reforming the oil, banking and electricity sectors.

"I have decided to humbly offer myself as a candidate in the presidential primaries of our party the great PDP (People's Democratic Party)," he said.

Jonathan's official declaration comes three days after he informally announced on Facebook that he intended to run in the primaries, which will be held between October 18 and 20, according PDP spokesman Rufai Alkali.

"In presenting myself for service, I make no pretense that I have a magic wand that will solve all of Nigeria's problems or that I am the most intelligent Nigerian," Jonathan wrote on his Facebook page Wednesday.

He took a more confident stance Saturday, announcing that under his presidency, all petrol refineries are now working, the banking sector has been reformed, electricity has been stablized and steps have been taken to fix roads, water, education and food production. He also said he has set in progress free and fair elections.

Jonathan's eligibility was in question until last month, when the People's Democratic Party said he could run in an open race with other candidates next year.

CNN

Freed American hiker begins her journey home

Muscat, Oman (CNN) -- Before beginning her journey back home to America, freed American hiker Sarah Shourd on Saturday thanked Oman for securing her release and said that nation would forever occupy a special niche in her heart as the place where she regained her freedom.

"I will always associate your country with the first breath of my freedom," she told reporters at Muscat International Airport. "The sweet smell of sandalwood. Standing by the ocean and listening to the waves".

Looking more relaxed and with a tinge of sun on her face, Shourd spoke briefly before leaving with her mother and uncle for Dubai, from where she will board a flight back to the United States. She is expected to return to America sometime Sunday.

She did not talk about her captivity. Instead, she said she took a walk on the beach and visited the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, which she called a peaceful and powerful place of worship.

She said she hoped to show the mosque soon to her fiance, Shane Bauer, and her friend Josh Fattal, still jailed in Tehran.

CNN

Report: Floods in northern India leave 19 dead

(CNN) -- Torrential rains triggered mudslides in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, killing at least 19 people and trapping another 14, the official Press Trust of India reported Saturday.

Six people were killed and 14 were trapped under rubble when landslides washed through villages in the Almora district, PTI reported.

It said eight people were killed in landslides in the Nainital district, which prompted authorities to order some area evacuations.

Five members of one family, including four children, were killed when their house collapsed in the Haridwar district, PTI reported.

CNN

Report: Mauritanian soldiers clash with suspected militants

(CNN) -- Six Mauritanian soldiers and a dozen militants were killed during clashes in northern Mali between members of the Mauritanian army and a suspected terrorist group, Mauritania's state news agency, AMI, reported Saturday.

Mauritanian fighter jets took part in the operation as fighting stretched into a second day, said AMI, which cited an unnamed military source and a statement from the Department of Defense. Nine Mauritanian soldiers were wounded in the attack, according to AMI.

Al Qaeda's North African wing, known as al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, is active in the area.

"In recent days, our armed forces spotted a group of terrorists on board a column of armored vehicles that were moving towards our border with the sister Republic of Mali, in the obvious goal to attack one of our positions," the news agency reported defense officials said in a statement.

The Mauritanian army intercepted the column, AMI said, resulting in a violent clash that lasted between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. Twelve suspected militants died and an unknown number were wounded, AMI reported, adding that two Mauritanian soldiers died during the clash while four others were wounded and died later from their injuries.

CNN

Inzaghi eyes Van Basten record as AC Milan draw

(CNN) -- Filippo Inzaghi rescued a point for AC Milan as they drew 1-1 against Catania at the San Siro, Saturday.

The goal was Inzaghi's 123rd for the club and puts him just one behind the club record of 124 held by Dutchman Marco van Basten.

Milan, who opened their 2010 Champions League campaign with a 2-0 win over French side Auxerre in midweek, failed to spark in a disappointing display.

Ciro Capuano gave Catania the lead in the 27th minute before Inzaghi equalized just before half time.

Fiorentina lost for the second weekend running, beaten 2-1 at home by Lazio.

Nineteen-year-old Adem Ljalic handed Fiorentina the lead when he scored from the penalty spot in the 19th minute.

But goals from Argentine Cristian Ledesma in the 32nd minute Czech international Libor Kozak scored the winner after 67 minutes sealed Fiorentina's fate.

The result leaves them languishing near the bottom of the table in 17th place.

Meanwhile in Spain's La Liga, Michael Laudrup enjoyed his first win in charge of Real Mallorca as they beat Osasuna 2-0 at home on Saturday.

Mallorca registered their first goal of the season with a Chori Castro penalty after 25 minutes, awarded for a handball by Osasuna's Miguel Flano.

CNN

10-man Arsenal draw; Spurs late show seals win

(CNN) -- Arsenal missed the chance to go top of the English Premier League Saturday, when they were held to a 1-1 draw against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

A scrambled goal by Sunderland striker Darren Bent in the fifth minute of injury-time capped an extraordinary match.

Arsenal took the lead in bizarre circumstances in the 13th minute, when Cesc Fabregas's block on Anton Ferdinand's clearance freakishly flew almost a full 40 yards into the Sunderland goal.

The Gunners were reduced to 10-men when Alex Song was sent off in the second half after receiving his second yellow card, but could have settled the tie when they were awarded a penalty 15 minutes from time. But Tomas Rosicky blazed the spot kick over the bar.

Three late goals secured victory for Tottenham Hotspur, as Harry Redknapp's team overcame Wolves 3-1 at White Hart Lane in the English Premier League.

Mick McCarthy's men took the lead against the run of play moments before half time when Steven Fletcher tapped in a Kevin Foley cross.

CNN

Canine model has time to help others

NEW YORK, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- One of New York's biggest celebrities has four legs and weighs only 80 pounds -- a Labradoodle known both for his modeling skills and his good works.

Bocker, a cross between a Labrador and a poodle, is not a high-strung demanding star, his owner, Marie Shelto, told the New York Daily News. Whether playing a canine version of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on TV, modeling for Ralph Lauren or serving as the face and bark of Dogs in Party Hats, a contest raising money for Guiding Eyes for the Blind, he gets the job done.

"Bocker is very low-key no matter what situation he is in. People say he never gets his curls in a knot," Shelto said. "Producers have told me that he is even easier to work with than humans".

Shelto acquired Bocker, 7, because she needed a hypoallergenic animal. He is a certified therapy dog and has worked in the Tail-wagging Tutor program for elementary school children.

"Bocker is always ready and willing to lend a helping paw," Shelto said.

UPI

Dad allegedly threatened to kill bullies

SANFORD, Fla., Sept. 18 (UPI) -- A Florida man has been charged with threatening to kill students who bullied his daughter and a school bus driver for failing to protect her.

Investigators say James Willie Jones, of Sanford, whose 13-year-old daughter has cerebral palsy, got on a Seminole County school bus Sept. 3 and began yelling, the Orlando Sentinel reported. He was charged Thursday with disorderly conduct and disturbing a school function and was quickly freed on bail.

Video from a surveillance camera depicts Jones's daughter showing him boys who had bullied her, and Jones standing in front of a boy, dressing him down and threatening to kill him. Jones told deputies after his arrest that some boys on the bus had taunted his daughter, twisted her ear and placed a condom on her.

UPI

Bloomberg campaigns for center

NEW YORK, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg plans to work for candidates of all political stripes who are opposed by the Tea Party movement.

Bloomberg went to Rhode Island Thursday to support former U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee, The New York Times reported. Chafee, who left the Republican Party after losing his seat to a Democrat, is running for governor as an independent.

Next month Bloomberg's schedule includes a trip to California to back Meg Whitman, the Republican candidate for governor. The mayor is also throwing a fundraiser at his New York home for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat challenged by Sharron Angle, a Tea Party Republican, in Nevada.

Bloomberg, who became a billionaire founding the financial news service that bears his name, is a Democrat turned Republican turned independent.

In an extensive interview, he told the Times the anger displayed by many voters this year is understandable: "Washington isn't working," he said.

UPI

COL FB: Arkansas 31, Georgia 24

ATHENS, Ga., Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Arkansas opened its SEC schedule Saturday with a 31-24 win over Georgia on a 40-yard touchdown catch by Greg Childs with 15 seconds to play.

Childs hauled in a perfect pass from Ryan Mallett on the left sideline and broke a 24-24 tie that Georgia (1-2, O-2 SEC) had forged with two TDs earlier in the quarter.

Mallett was 21-of-33 for 380 yards passing and three touchdowns for the 13th-ranked Razorbacks (3-0, 1-0), who snapped a six-game losing streak against Georgia.

Georgia's Aaron Murray was 15-of-27 for 253 yards and one touchdown. Washaun Ealey ran for 84 yards and scored a touchdown that tied the game with 3:55 to play.

UPI

Group tries to limit gay marriage ruling

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Opponents of same-sex marriage in California say a judge's ruling throwing out Proposition 8 should apply only to the two couples who challenged it.

Protectmarriage.com argues that if the judge in the case can bar anyone except state officials from appealing the case, then the effect of Judge Vaughn R. Walker's ruling should also be limited, the Los Angeles Times reported. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state Attorney General Jerry Brown have said they will not appeal.

Walker, chief judge of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, refused to allow Imperial County, where Proposition 8 passed by a large majority, from intervening. He said he did not believe protectmarriage.com had standing either.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has stayed the effect of Walker's decision until December, when it plans a hearing.

UPI

Toyota settles lawsuit over fiery crash

SANTA ANA, Calif., Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Toyota Motor Corp. has settled a lawsuit over a 2009 crash in California that made sudden acceleration in its cars a national issue, the company said.

The settlement, but no details, were revealed in a letter to a California judge, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Mark Saylor, an officer with the California Highway Patrol, his wife, daughter and brother-in-law were killed when their Lexus, loaned to Saylor by a local dealership, hit an embankment near San Diego and burst into flames in August 2009. In a recording of a 911 call, screams of "there's no brakes" could be heard just before the crash.

Toyota's settlement with the victims' families did not include Bob Baker Lexus. That could allow the company's lawyers to argue, in dealing with other plaintiffs, that the dealership was to blame for the Saylor crash, lawyers said.

"Toyota has sought to protect only its own interests. They decided to cut out their own dealer," said Larry Willis, a Bob Baker lawyer.

UPI

Phoenix sheriff says it acted fast on memo

PHOENIX, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- An Arizona county Sheriff's Department says it sought an investigation after learning of an internal memo about the activities of its anti-corruption unit.

The sheriff's office in neighboring Pinal County agreed to look into the memo, which reportedly warned that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was using the unit to conduct surveillance of his political opponents.

The 63-page memo was revealed this week in the Arizona Republic. It was written by Maricopa Deputy Chief Frank Munnell and alleged mismanagement on the part of Chief Deputy Dave Hendershott and two other top officials.

Hendershott has been on medical leave while recovering from surgery. Deputy Chief Larry Black and Capt. Joel Fox were placed on administrative leave this week.

Sheriff's Lt. Brian Lee said Arpaio immediately called for an investigation by an outside agency. "We're bending over backward, trying to ensure everyone we're doing what we're supposed to do," Lee said Friday.

UPI

'Stop-start' system coming to U.S. cars

DETROIT, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- A relatively simple and inexpensive fuel-saving technology from Europe will soon be introduced on vehicles in North America, engineers say.

So-called start-stop systems that turn off a car when it is idling and reignite the engine when the driver releases the brake will be coming to the United States and Canada in the next five years, The Detroit News reported.

The technology is widespread in Europe and will be embraced in North America as a tool to meet increasingly stringent fuel-economy and emissions requirements, auto experts say.

"Engineers kill for one-tenth of a mile per gallon," Joe Phillippi of AutoTrends Consulting Inc. said. "In city driving, it would make a huge impact".

Estimates vary, but the consensus is shutting off the engine at a stop can improve fuel economy as much as 15 percent.

Consumer acceptance could be a challenge.

UPI

Florida pair admit forced-labor operation

BOCA RATON, Fla., Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Two Florida employment contractors have admitted exploiting immigrants for forced labor, the U.S. attorney said.

Alfonso Baldonado Jr., 45, and Sophia Manuel, 41, owners of Quality Staffing Services Corp. in Boca Raton, pleaded guilty to forcing 39 Filipinos to work under threat of deportation, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Friday.

Federal court documents state they secured a "cheap and compliant labor pool" by importing migrants, burdening them with huge debts and making them work for little or no pay in South Florida country clubs and hotels.

Prosecutors said the contractors seized the victims' passports and lodged them in an overcrowded home without enough food or drinking water. The workers were forbidden to leave without permission and an escort, according to court records.

If the workers complained, they were threatened with arrest and deportation, prosecutors said.

UPI

Food-safety bill stalled in Senate

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- A food-safety bill with bipartisan support that passed the House more than a year ago has been stalled in the Senate by its opponents, officials say.

The bill intended to fix many of the problems in the nation's food-safety system is a priority for the Obama administration and has the backing of both industry and consumer groups, but it has been hobbled by a tight Senate calendar, one stubborn senator and advocates for small farmers, The New York Times reported.

With many bills needing to be passed before senators leave in October to campaign, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada sought a routine agreement to limit debate on the measure.

But Senator Tom Coburn, R-Okla., refused, saying the powers granted to the Food and Drug Administration in the bill would have financial costs, and those costs need to be offset by spending reductions.

Reid criticized Coburn Thursday, saying, "In light of recent events like the egg recall in Iowa, it is unconscionable that Senator Coburn and his Republican colleagues are putting politics ahead of a common-sense, bipartisan bill to ensure that the food products our families consume every day are safe".

Some small farmers and their advocates have raised complaints about the legislation, arguing that the new regulations would be too costly.

UPI

World-circling sailor Dodge Morgan dies

BOSTON, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Dodge Morgan, the first American to sail around the globe alone without stopping, died Tuesday. He was 78.

Morgan died in Boston of cancer, his fiancee, Mary Beth Teas, told The New York Times. He lived on Snow Island, Maine.

Morgan set out from Bermuda on the 60-foot sloop American Promise on Nov. 12, 1985. He returned April 11, 1986, making the 27,000-mile circumnavigation in 150 days, smashing the record of 292 days set by a British sailor, Chay Blyth, in 1971.

Morgan began his voyage on Oct. 14, 1985, from Portland, Maine, but had to put in at Bermuda for weeks of repairs when the boat's electronic steering conked out.

He circled the tip of Africa and sailed across the South Pacific, past Cape Horn, and north to Bermuda. He carried 650 pounds of tools and spare parts, 300 pounds of clothing and 1,600 pounds of food, most of it freeze-dried.

UPI

West Nile virus found in LA County

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- West Nile virus, a potentially fatal disease transmitted by mosquito bites, is spreading in birds and mosquitoes in Los Angeles County, health officials said.

Two dead virus-infected birds and two infected mosquito samples were collected from communities in the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.

West Nile virus activity has increased with the rise in temperatures that began in August, health authorities said.

The virus can cause fever, headache, body aches, nausea and skin rash, and symptoms can last for 5 to 15 days. One out of 150 people infected may require hospitalization.

Health officials were urging homeowners to prevent swimming pools and other standing bodies of water from becoming breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

Residents are being advised to wear insect repellent to avoid bites.

UPI

COL FB: Penn State 24, Kent State 0

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Penn State's offense scored twice in the first quarter Saturday and the defense did the rest in the 22nd-ranked Nittany Lions' 24-0 win over Kent State.

Penn State (2-1) piled up 382 yards of total offense to Kent State's 228 and held the Golden Flashes to 58 yards on the ground.

Rob Bolden completed 17-of-27 passes for 217 yards and a touchdown, and ran in another score. Evan Royster rushed for 38 yards and a touchdown.

Spencer Keith was 20-of-36 for 170 yards for Kent State (1-2), who lost their second consecutive game.

Penn State scored in the first quarter on 1-yard run by Bolden, capping a drive that was started by D'Anton Lynn's interception on Kent State's first series. The Lions took a 14-0 lead on their next series on Royster's 3-yard run.

Penn State added a 27-yard field goal by Collin Wagner late in the third quarter and a 48-yard TD pass to Devon Smith with 8:27 remaining in the game.

UPI

ATF boosts gun investigators in Southwest

PHOENIX, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Federal authorities say there will be more operations aimed at gun smuggling into Mexico like the one this week in Arizona that resulted in 66 arrests.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says more than $37 million has been appropriated to fund permanent investigative teams in southwestern U.S. cities believed to be sources for black market weapons bought by Mexican drug gangs.

"This is not the end of it," ATF Deputy Director Kenneth Melson said in Phoenix after a three-month undercover operation by more than 80 agents in Arizona and New Mexico netted multiple arrests and seizure of 1,300 guns.

UPI