Randy Travis suffers stroke in hospital
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The publicist for Randy Travis says the country music singer has suffered a stroke in a Texas hospital.
Publicist Kirt Webster said Wednesday night that the 54-year-old Travis suffered the stroke while he was being treated for congestive heart failure because of a viral illness.
Webster said Travis was undergoing surgery Wednesday night to relieve pressure on his brain. He has been in critical condition.
Doctors said earlier Wednesday that Travis was in good health until three weeks before he was hospitalized, when he contracted a viral upper respiratory infection.
Navy lands drone on aircraft carrier
ABOARD THE USS GEORGE H.W. BUSH – The Navy successfully landed a drone the size of a fighter jet aboard an aircraft carrier for the first time Wednesday, showcasing the military’s capability to have a computer program perform one of the most difficult tasks that a pilot is asked to do.
The landing of the X-47B experimental aircraft means the Navy can move forward with its plans to develop another unmanned aircraft that will join the fleet alongside traditional airplanes to provide around-the-clock surveillance while also possessing a strike capability. It also would pave the way for the U.S. to launch unmanned aircraft without the need to obtain permission from other countries to use their bases.
The X-47B experimental aircraft took off from Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland before approaching the USS George H.W. Bush, which was operating about 70 miles off the coast of Virginia. The tail-less drone landed by deploying a hook that caught a wire aboard the ship and brought it to a quick stop, just as piloted fighter jets do.
Egypt cracks down on Muslim Brotherhood
CAIRO – Egypt’s military-backed government tightened a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood on Wednesday, ordering the arrest of its revered leader in a bid to choke off the group’s campaign to reinstate deposed President Mohammed Morsi one week after an army-led coup.
The Brotherhood denounced the warrants for the arrest of Mohammed Badie and nine other leading Islamists for inciting violence Monday that left dozens dead, saying “dictatorship is back” and vowing it will never work with the interim rulers.
Leaders of the Brotherhood are believed to be taking refuge somewhere near a continuing sit-in by its supporters at the Rabaah al-Adawiya Mosque in eastern Cairo, but it is not clear if Badie also is there.
The Brotherhood is outraged by the overthrow of Morsi, one of its own, and demands nothing less than his release from detention and his reinstatement as president.
Train crash death toll likely to hit 50
LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec – Canadian officials told distraught families Wednesday that 30 people are still missing after the fiery crash of a runaway oil train are all presumed dead.
Along with 20 bodies found, that would put the death toll from Saturday’s derailment and explosions in this lakeside town at 50.
Hours before that somber meeting, Edward Burkhardt, president and CEO of the train’s parent company Rail World Inc., made his first visit to Lac-Megantic since the disaster, amid jeers from residents and criticism from politicians, including the Quebec premier.
The rail chief blamed the engineer for failing to set the brakes properly before the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway train hurtled down a seven-mile incline, derailed and ignited. All but one of the 73 cars was carrying oil, and at least five exploded.
China discovers 5,000-year-old writing
BEIJING – Archaeologists say they have discovered some of the world’s oldest known primitive writing, dating back 5,000 years, in eastern China, and some of the markings etched on broken axes resemble a modern Chinese character.
The inscriptions on artifacts found south of Shanghai are about 1,400 years older than the oldest written Chinese language. Chinese scholars are divided over whether the markings are words or something simpler, but they say the finding will shed light on the origins of Chinese language and culture.
The oldest writing in the world is believed to be from Mesopotamia, dating back slightly more than 5,000 years. Chinese characters are believed to have been developed independently.
Inscriptions were found on more than 200 pieces dug out from the Neolithic-era Liangzhu relic site. The pieces are among thousands of fragments of ceramic, stone, jade, wood, ivory and bone excavated from the site between 2003 and 2006, lead archaeologist Xu Xinmin said.
Associated Press
