Three shot after Big Easy parade
New Orleans A parade intended to show unity and support for the city’s rebuilding was instead marred by violence Sunday when shots rang out, wounding three people as the event drew to a close.
Not long after the parade wrapped up, police officers patrolling the route heard gunfire. They then found a 34-year-old man with multiple wounds, police spokesman Gary Flot said.
Minutes later, after more shots rang out, officers discovered an 18-year-old woman wounded in the leg. A man, 20, also was shot in the leg, in the same area.
All three were admitted to local hospitals, where the 34-year-old was listed in guarded condition; the 20-year-old was in fair condition, and the 18-year-old in good condition Sunday night, Flot said.
Militants in Nigeria attack oil platform
Lagos, Nigeria Nigerian troops battled militia fighters in swamps around a Royal Dutch Shell PLC oil platform that militants attacked at dawn Sunday, the third assault on Shell oil facilities in less than a week in the troubled region.
Shell confirmed the attack on the Benisede oil platform in the southern oil-rich Niger Delta and said some of its staff had been injured and taken to the hospital. The company also said it had begun evacuating personnel from vulnerable facilities in the region due to worsening security.
In a statement, Shell said “heavily armed persons” in speed boats attacked the platform early Sunday, burning down staff accommodations and damaging the facility. Soldiers guarding Benisede returned automatic weapons fire, but it was unclear if they had lost control of the oil platform, said Brig. Gen. Elias Zamani, commander of a special task force charged with security in the volatile oil region.
Sister dies, brother positive for bird flu
Van, Turkey A 12-year-old girl whose younger brother tested positive for bird flu died on Sunday, and Turkish authorities were trying to determine whether she was the latest victim of the virus.
The girl, Fatma Ozcan, had been in contact with sick birds but preliminary tests came back negative for the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, the Health Ministry said. Authorities nonetheless suspected the virus caused her death and were conducting further tests.
Dr. Huseyin Avni Sahin said the girl and her 5-year-old brother, from the nearby town of Dogubayazit, were admitted to his hospital in the eastern city of Van five days earlier. Both children had been in contact with fowl and apparently ate a sickened chicken, Sahin said.
The girl’s brother, Muhammet Ozcan, was in serious condition, officials said. The Health Ministry said the latest test results on the sick boy brought to at least 19 the number of people in Turkey known to have contracted the H5N1 strain.
Finland’s president fails to secure votes
Helsinki, Finland Finland’s left-leaning president — the Nordic country’s first female head of state — failed to win enough votes to secure re-election Sunday, forcing a runoff against a conservative challenger.
President Tarja Halonen won 46 percent, according to final results, well ahead of her main challenger but short of the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff. Second-place finisher, Sauli Niinisto, won 24 percent of the vote.