London

Butler: Diana alienated from Spencer family

Princess Diana longed for a loving family but was rejected by her brother, fell out with one of her sisters and, six months before she died, cut off all contact with her mother, former royal butler Paul Burrell was quoted as saying Thursday.

“Hers was a family of virtual strangers all riven by jealousy,” Burrell said in his latest exclusive interview with the Daily Mirror.

Thanks to the intervention of Queen Elizabeth II, Burrell was acquitted last week of stealing more than 300 items from the princess and other members of the royal family. Though he said he would never betray Diana’s secrets, the tabloid succeeded in buying his story, reportedly for $620,000.

In Thursday’s “Burrell Bombshell,” he called Earl Spencer a hypocrite for turning the princess’s grave into a tourist attraction.

He also said a feud between the Spencers and the Windsors prompted him to remove some of Diana’s personal papers after her death, fearing they could be used against the royal family.

Norway

‘Free Willy’ whale travels to new home

From his new home in a tranquil Norwegian bay, Keiko the killer whale has what his friends say is an ideal place to live: peace and quiet, human care and ample opportunity to meet wild orcas.

The 6-ton orca, who gained fame in the “Free Willy” movies, was led Thursday from the Skaalvik fjord to the nearby but quieter Taknes Bay.

Colin Baird, 36, Keiko’s Canadian trainer, and Norwegian fishery officials spent weeks seeking the perfect winter home for the orca before settling on the bay, which is just six miles away.

Baird said the new location was ice-free, had plenty of fish, was along orca migration routes and was more remote ” something they hoped would reduce crowds of admirers.

New York

Razor bombs injure two

Electric razors that had been rigged with explosives blew up in the faces of two men, wounding both, authorities say.

In the first incident, on March 27, Hosea Crumpler of Troy found what appeared to be a new razor in a black case in a McDonald’s restroom, police said.

When he plugged it in at home, the razor blew up, wounding his face, neck, chest, torso and both hands, according to police. He was hospitalized for several days.

On Oct. 12, a man bought a different brand razor at a store in Bennington, Vt., 30 miles from Troy, and it exploded when it was plugged in at his home in Johnsonville, investigators said. He suffered minor injuries, mostly burns and cuts, and did not require hospitalization. Troy and Johnsonville are 15 miles apart.

New York City

Investigators seek bubonic plague source

Disease investigators tried Thursday to track down the source of bubonic plague bacteria that apparently caused a New Mexico couple to become sick while visiting New York City.

Health officials believe the couple became infected near their home in Santa Fe, N.M., before they arrived Nov. 1 in New York, said Llelwyn Grant, a spokesman for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The 53-year-old man and 47-year-old woman showed up Tuesday at a New York hospital, complaining of fever, weakness and swelling. The man remained in critical condition Thursday, and the woman remained in stable condition.

They were given antibiotics, which usually can treat the disease effectively.

Plague is one of a handful of agents that federal health officials fear could be used in a bioterrorist attack, but health officials stressed that the cases were natural.