***DUPLICATION ALERT: Farina brief also moved as a separate***
CHINA
Earthquake kills at least 75 people
A strong earthquake that shook an arid, hilly farming area in northwest China sparked landslides and destroyed or damaged thousands of brick-and-mud homes Monday, killing at least 75 people and injuring more than 400, the government said. The quake near the city of Dingxi in Gansu province toppled brick walls and telephone lines, shattered mud-and-tile-roofed houses and sent cascades of dirt and rock down hillsides that blocked roads and slowed rescue efforts by crews trying to reach remote areas.
NEW YORK
Plane’s front landing gear collapses
The front landing gear of a plane arriving at New York’s LaGuardia Airport collapsed Monday as the aircraft touched down on the runway. The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane landed safely. Officials with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said they had several accounts of people reporting injuries. The extent of the injuries was not immediately known. The FAA said the Southwest Airlines flight from Nashville landed at 5:45 p.m. The plane was carrying 149 passengers and crew. Dallas-based Southwest Airlines spokespeople didn’t immediately respond to phone and email inquiries.
VIRGINIA
7 hurt in Navy training accident
Four sailors and three civilian instructors were injured when an inflatable boat collided with a ship in Virginia. U.S. Fleet Forces Command said the collision occurred Monday morning near Thimble Shoal Channel off Virginia Beach. Two sailors and two civilians were released from a Virginia Beach hospital. One civilian and one sailor remained under observation late Monday. The fourth sailor was treated at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in Virginia Beach. The Navy is investigating.
NEW YORK
‘Law & Order’ actor dead at 69
Dennis Farina, a onetime Chicago cop who as a popular character actor played a TV cop on “Law & Order” during his wide-ranging career, died Monday morning in a Scottsdale, Ariz., hospital. Farina suffered a blood clot in his lung, said Lori De Waal, his publicist. He was 69. Farina is survived by three sons, six grandchildren and his longtime partner, Marianne Cahill.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Dubai pardons woman in rape dispute
A Norwegian woman at the center of a Dubai rape claim dispute said Monday officials dropped her 16-month sentence for having sex outside marriage in the latest clash between the city’s Islamic-based legal codes and its international branding as a Western-friendly haven. Marte Deborah Dalelv, 24, in Dubai for a business meeting, said she told police in March that she was raped by a co-worker after a night that included cocktails. She was held in custody for four days and sentenced last week for illicit sex outside marriage and alcohol consumption. The alleged attacker, identified as a 33-year-old Sudanese man, was charged with the same offenses and received a 13-month sentence. He also was pardoned, Dalelv said.
MEXICO
Police chief accused in mayor’s slaying
Prosecutors in southern Mexico have arrested the police chief of the small town of Aquila for allegedly shooting the mayor to death following an argument. The prosecutors’ office in the southern state of Oaxaca said the shooting happened at a party in Aquila early Monday. Prosecutors identified the police chief as Adan Gonzalez and the dead mayor as Geronimo Manuel Garcia Rosas.
CALIFORNIA
Mudslides threaten in fire’s wake
A Southern California wildfire that destroyed seven homes and threatened the mountain town of Idyllwild was sluggish after a thunderstorm drenched the timberland, and more storms were expected Monday. The 43-square-mile fire above Palm Springs was 68 percent contained. The rain was beneficial for dousing flames, but powerful downpours raised the potential for flooding and mudslides in recently burned areas, prompting authorities to issue a voluntary evacuation warning for about 20 homes several miles southeast of Idyllwild.
MEXICO
Paleontologists dig up dinosaur tail
Mexican paleontologists say they have uncovered 50 vertebrae believed to be a full dinosaur tail in the northern desert of Coahuila state. The National Institute of Anthropology and History said the tail is about 15 feet long and resembles that of a hadrosaur or crested duckbill dinosaur. The institute said Monday it’s not yet possible to confirm the species, but it would be the first full tail of that kind found in Mexico.
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