World 5/12/11

THURSDAY

British-born Claude Choules, 110, believed to be the last WWI combat veteran, died in his sleep in an Australian nursing home. Choules was born in 1901 and signed up with the British Navy for the Great War at just 15 years of age. The only other surviving WWI veteran is believed to be Britain’s Florence Green, also 110, who served with the Royal Air Force in a non-combat role.

Days after the killing of Osama bin Laden, President Barack Obama met with New York firefighters and police and visited Ground Zero.

The stately Chicago home where actor Macaulay Culkin outwitted a pair of bumbling thieves in the 1990 hit film “Home Alone” was put on the market by owners John and Cynthia Abendshien for $2.4 million.

The last three teens in a group charged with bullying a newcomer to their high school who later committed suicide admitted to lesser criminal charges as part of a plea agreement. The teens preyed on Phoebe Prince not only with physical threats and insults but also with technology tools, including Facebook and texting.

FRIDAY

Police in Detroit are looking for a gang of middle-aged to elderly women, dubbed the “Mad Hatters,” who are believed to be responsible for a string of robberies, purse snatching and fraud. Total value of merchandise and cash stolen could be as high as $500,000. Surveillance photographs supplied show the middle-aged to elderly women wear hats, usually of the floppy, fisherman variety, during the incidents.

Joseph Naso, 77, a photographer accused of killing four northern California women whose first and last names began with the same letter was given permission to act as his own attorney as the case proceeds.

The Scottish National Party has won a majority in the Scottish parliament paving the way for a referendum on Scotland’s independence from Britain. The party aims to hold the vote within five years.

Kenyan authorities seized 115 elephant tusks weighing nearly 1.5 metric tons hidden in metal boxes at the country’s main airport in Nairobi.

WEEKEND

For the first time in nearly 140 years, Indian tribes of northeastern Montana are preparing for the return of wild buffalo that are descended from herds that once thundered across the vast American West. Buffalo wars of the 19th Century reduced the number of wild American buffalo from tens of millions to fewer than 50. That population has since grown to some 3,700 head.

Animal Kingdom, a 20-1 long shot, sprinted down the home stretch to overtake the field and claim the Kentucky Derby title. The race was the horse’s first on dirt. He was ridden by jockey John Velazquez, who had been slated to ride favorite Uncle Mo, who was scratched because of a mysterious stomach ailment.

The tattooed, shrunken head of a Maori warrior is being returned to tribesmen in New Zealand after the stolen artifact had been displayed at the Museum of Rouen in France since 1875. Tribal custom forbids the head from being photographed or filmed.

Rescuers recovered all 14 bodies from a collapsed coal mine in northern Mexico. The shallow mine shaft collapsed after a methane gas explosion.

MONDAY

A Yiddish newspaper in New York apologized for doctoring a photograph of President Barack Obama and his national security team watching the mission against Osama bin Laden by editing out the women in the room, including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. The paper never publishes photographs of women to meet the “laws of modesty” of its Orthodox Jewish readership.

Samoa is looking to move the country’s clocks forward by a day by applying to change its time zone in an effort to ease trade with Australia and New Zealand.

Bridgette Evans, 32, of Broward County in Florida, Polly Evans, 36, and Olivia Evans, 22, both formerly of Texas, were charged with two counts of mail fraud and 10 counts of wire fraud for bilking $59,000 for claiming to cleanse people of evil spirits and demons.

TUESDAY

The Mississippi River crested at Memphis just inches below the all-time record as the swollen wall of water moved south toward the Gulf of Mexico. National Weather Service officials said the level of the largest river in North America likely reached its peak at 47.87 feet. Thousands were evacuated, and about 500 people were in shelters around Memphis.

Few people say they witnessed it for themselves, but Swiss daredevil “Jetman” said he made a successful flight over the Grand Canyon in a custom-made, winged jet pack.

Three current and former waiters who served fans in premium seats at Yankee Stadium filed suit against their employer over the withholding of tips automatically charged on food and drink orders.

WEDNESDAY

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an “immediate, verifiable ceasefire” in Libya where rebels are fighting to end Muammar Gaddafi’s 41 years in power. There was no immediate direct response from the rebels or government.

Police fired teargas at dozens of young Greeks who were striking against austerity measures put on by the EU and IMF as part of a 110 billion euro bailout given the country earlier this year. Senior EU and IMF officials were meeting with Greek government authorities about the next bailout payment to the country.

Compiled the Gazette staff from a variety of sources.