LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“If anyone can show me where there’s a Democratic bill to hold hostage, I’ll buy them lunch.”
Don Stewart,
a spokesman for Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, after the White House accused Republicans of “holding middle-class tax cuts hostage” Article, 1ANicaraguan envoy found slashed, dead
NEW YORK - A Nicaraguan diplomat was found dead Thursday, his stomach stabbed and his throat slashed, in his apartment, hours before he was to attend the U.N. General Assembly’s annual meeting, officials said.
Cesar Mercado, 34, who had worked at the Nicaraguan Consulate as acting consul general, was found at 10:35 a.m. in his apartment in the Bronx by the driver who went to pick him up to attend the meeting, police said. He was last seen alive the day before.
Police said the driver knocked on the door, which was unlocked, opened it, saw Mercado’s body lying just inside the studio and called 911.
It was initially thought one knife was used in the attack and was found near the body, but investigators later determined there were two knives involved, a 12-inch steak knife found at the side of a blood-filled bathroom sink and a smaller paring knife found in the sink.
Police were investigating, but no suspects were immediately identified.
Seattle shooting leaves 4 dead, 1 hurt
SEATTLE - A woman fatally shot three people and herself at a Seattle home Thursday, injuring another woman who fled into the front yard and told officers, “My mom has gone crazy,” police said.
Officers responded to a report of gunshots about 1:30 p.m. and could still hear shots being fired from the house when they arrived, police spokesman Sean Whitcomb said. A man in his 50s ran into the house. Two more shots were fired and he ran back out, telling officers his wife had shot herself.
When police were able to go inside, they found the four dead, including a woman in her 50s they believe was the gunman, Whitcomb said.
In addition to the older woman, the dead included two women in their late teens and a man in his 30s, police said.
Assistant Police Chief Jim Pugel said a wounded woman, who fled the house and is expected to survive, was able to speak to officers when they arrived.
Europe bans Avandia; U.S. restricts drug
European regulators ordered the diabetes drug Avandia off the market, and the Food and Drug Administration placed stringent restrictions on its use in the United States, saying that heart attack risks associated with the former blockbuster are too great a safety concern to continue its use for most people.
In simultaneous news briefings Thursday, the European Medicines Agency and the FDA announced their longawaited decisions on the fate of GlaxoSmithKline’s drug. The European regulator said it would stop authorizing marketing of Avandia, which will be banned from sales within the next few months.
The FDA said new patients will be able to get a prescription for Avandia, but only if they can’t control their blood sugar with other medications. Doctors will have to document that their patients are eligible to receive the drug and have been briefed on its risks. FDA expects the restricted plan “will limit use of Avandia significantly.”
The two decisions will virtually eliminate use of the drug around the world, said Dr. Steve Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic, who published the first paper linking Avandia to heart risks.
Gunman wounds 3 at plant, kills himself
CRETE, Neb. - A worker entered the lunchroom of a cold-storage food warehouse in southeastern Nebraska and started firing a handgun, wounding three employees, including a woman who was shot 11 times, before going outside and killing himself, authorities said Thursday.
Officials gave no information about why the man, identified as 26-year-old Akouch Kashoual of Lincoln, began shooting at the Americold Logistics plant near Crete about 9:50 p.m. Wednesday. Afterward, Kashoual went outside the plant and shot himself in the head, said Saline County Attorney Tad Eickman.
Several people who said they were Kashoual’s relatives gathered on the balcony outside his apartment near the state Capitol on Thursday afternoon but declined to comment.
Eickman said Kashoual’s permanent residency card lists Sudan as his birth country.
The three people wounded all work at the plant and live in Crete, Eickman said.
The most seriously wounded, 40-year-old Elizabeth Canas, was taken by helicopter about 30 miles from Crete to Lincoln late Wednesday with 11 gunshot wounds to her torso and arm.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 09/24/2010