NATION & WORLD BRIEFS
Five officers shot and wounded in Minnesota, authorities say
PRINCETON, Minn. – Five drug task force officers were shot and wounded Thursday while serving a search warrant near the Minnesota city of Princeton, authorities said. The suspect was arrested after a standoff that lasted several hours.
A news release from Benton County Sheriff Troy Heck said the officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect when they were confronted by the man, who was injured in the incident and was taken away for treatment after his arrest. The cause and extent of his injuries were not immediately known, the sheriff said.
The officers’ injuries were not lifethreatening, the sheriff said. Three of the officers were taken to North Memorial Hospital in the Minneapolis suburb of Robbinsdale while two were taken to a hospital in St. Cloud.
The confrontation started Thursday morning at a home in Glendorado Township, which is a few miles west of Princeton, about 50 miles northwest of Minneapolis.
Florida law on drag shows can’t be enforced for now, court says
ORLANDO, Fla. – A ruling prohibiting the enforcement of a new Florida law targeting drag shows will stay in place for the time being, according to a federal appeals court decision.
A panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld a lower court’s granting of a preliminary injunction stopping the law from being enforced until a trial is held in Orlando, Florida, to determine its constitutionality.
In their appeal, attorneys for the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation had asked that the injunction only apply to the business that had challenged the law, saying that the judge’s injunction “sweeps beyond Plaintiff to nonparties who may wish to expose children to live obscene performances in violation of the statute.”
But a majority on the appeals court panel ruled against that request, saying the Florida agency hadn’t shown that the lower court had erred by prohibiting the law’s enforcement.
Crane brought in to remove tree by Hadrian’s Wall cut in vandalism
LONDON – A 300-year-old tree near the Roman landmark of Hadrian’s Wall in northeastern England that was cut down two weeks ago in an act of vandalism was to be removed on Thursday.
The National Trust, which for more than 125 years has sought to protect England’s heritage and natural landscapes, said a crane will lift the muchphotographed and painted sycamore tree from where it lies near the delicate and now-damaged wall.
“It’s currently in a precarious position resting on the wall, so it’s necessary we move it now, both to preserve the world-famous monument that is Hadrian’s Wall, and to make the site safe again for visitors,” said Andrew Poad, the site’s general manager for the National Trust.
Though the 50-foot tree is too big to move in one piece, experts hope that the trunk can be kept in large sections in order to leave future options open on what could be done. The stump, which could generate new shoots, will be kept in place and is currently behind a protective barrier. Seeds have also been collected to see if they could be used to propagate new saplings.
2 killed after car suspected of smuggling migrants overturns
KISKUNMAJSA, Hungary – Two people were killed and six were injured in a car accident in Hungary early on Thursday after a vehicle suspected of transporting migrants entering the country illegally hit a tree and overturned.
The accident occurred around 3 a.m. near Kiskunmajsa, in southern Hungary near the border with Serbia. Police said the driver of the vehicle, a Renault with French license plates, sped away after police attempted to perform a traffic stop and lost control in a bend in the road.
As it evaded police, the car swerved and hit a tree and then overturned, police said. Jozsef Hangai, a spokesperson for the Hungarian National Ambulance Service, said that two of those in the vehicle died at the scene, while six other injured people were taken to local hospitals for treatment.