The Port of Miami was hit by its second terrorism scare in two days Monday when a package that was to be loaded onto a cruise ship tested positive for plastic explosives. Authorities later determined it was harmless. The package was initially tested six times, and each time it came back positive for the military-grade explosive known as C4, the Coast Guard said.
A judge has dropped all charges against three Middle Eastern men whose miscommunication with guards at the Port of Miami had sparked a terrorism scare. Officials initially said that the three men were caught trying to slip past a security checkpoint in a cargo truck on Sunday and that the driver had said he was alone.
After dozens of birds were found dead in the streets in Austin, Texas, police shut down 10 blocks of businesses in the heart of downtown early Monday. But officials said preliminary tests showed no dangerous chemicals in the air. As many as 60 dead pigeons, sparrows and grackles were found overnight along Congress Avenue, a main route through downtown.
A man said Monday he deserved his life sentence for murdering a Johns Hopkins University student during a burglary. The crime shocked the prestigious university in Baltimore, where another student had been murdered nine months earlier, and led university officials to accelerate plans to improve security. Donta M. Allen, 28, who worked in restaurants near the university, pleaded guilty in November to first-degree murder in the strangulation death of Linda Trinh, 21.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed to extend health coverage to nearly all of California's 6.5 million uninsured people, promising to spread the cost among businesses, individuals, hospitals, doctors, insurers and government. The plan, announced Monday, contains elements that are likely to provoke opposition from a wide range of powerful interests, including doctors, hospitals and insurers, as well as employers and unions. But it also contains incentives for each of them.
