Toronto: Test results clear first herd tied to mad cow disease

Test results have cleared all other cattle in the original herd linked to North America’s first mad cow case in a decade, Canadian officials said Sunday.

“The results from diagnostic testing on the first quarantined herd are negative,” said Dr Claude Lavigne of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

“It means the incidence of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) in Canada presently remains in one cow.”

Canada announced last week that it had found one cow with the disease in a herd of 150 in Alberta province.

Calves sold out of the original herd before the infected case was discovered were now being removed from their current herds, slaughtered and tested, with results due later this week, officials said.

The human form of BSE is Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which causes paralysis and death.

Florida: Five people found dead after suspect surrenders

Five people were found dead inside a home early Sunday after a SWAT team captured a man who had held police at bay in a 12-hour standoff.

The bodies were in different stages of decomposition in various rooms of the home. At least one of the victims had been dead for as many as 11 days, police spokesman Sgt. Scott McLeod said.

William Wells, 27, surrendered after police officers persuaded him to release his 4-year-old son, authorities said. The boy was unharmed.

Wells was charged with five counts of murder. He was detained at a hospital after telling police he had taken an overdose of prescription drugs.

Police withheld the victims’ identities pending notification of relatives.

But Wells told investigators he had killed his wife, Irene Tutti Wells, and four others, McLeod said. Most of the other victims were related, McLeod said.

Police had been called to the home Saturday afternoon, but backed away when Wells threatened suicide.

Lt. David Coffman talked with him on the phone during the standoff, and police used a remote-control robot to deliver pizza and electronics to him.

Turkey: Plane carrying peacekeepers crashes, killing 74 aboard

A plane carrying 74 Spanish peacekeeping forces from Afghanistan to Madrid crashed early today while trying to refuel in northwest Turkey, news reports said.

The Ukrainian-operated plane was flying from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, to Zaragoza, Spain, with a refueling stop in Trabzon, private NTV television reported, quoting unnamed Turkish aviation officials.

It went down near the mountainous town of Macka, 30 miles south of the Black Sea port of Trabzon, NTV said.

The plane carried 62 passengers — all Spanish peacekeeping forces — and 12 crew members, the television station said, quoting Turkish officials.

One witness said the wreckage of the plane was in flames and reported seeing at least two charred bodies, private Kanal 7 television reported.

Officials said all 74 aboard the plane died in the crash.