Around the world
TRANSPLANT: A 3-year-old British boy made medical history late Friday when he received a second bone marrow transplant at a hospital in Briston, southwest England, in a pioneering effort to treat an otherwise fatal genetic disease. Rhys Daniels underwent the same procedure last July, but his body rejected the transplanted tissue, leaving him still prey to Batten's disease, a rare disorder that causes dementia and eventual death in young children.AMBUSH: Leftist rebels ambushed a passenger bus and killed 20 people the same day they announced they want to talk peace with the government, Colombia's defense ministry said Friday in Bogota. The rebels hurled firebombs and grenades Thursday at the bus in a jungle region of northwest Colombia and opened fire with assault rifles as survivors fled. Eleven civilians and nine soldiers died in the attack by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
Across the nation
BAN LIFTING: The Japanese government is lifting its 23-year ban on U.S. apple imports, clearing the way for Washington apples to be sent to Japan by December, a Washington Apple Commission spokesman said in Yakima. Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries made the announcement Friday after determining the apples were safe and cleared all necessary health inspections, commission spokesman Jim Thomas. "The next step now is they've put out their regulations on how we're supposed to do all this. This gives us the go-ahead to start the procedures to export this year's crop to Japan," Thomas said.
SET AFIRE: A man upset about his breakup with a former girlfriend doused her and her male companion with gasoline and set them on fire in their apartment Friday, police said. Carl Henry Blue, 29, was booked into the county jail on two counts of attempted murder. He turned himself in to Bryan police upon learning that a warrant existed for his arrest, Sgt. Robert Cahill said. The victims are Carmen Richardson, 38, and Larence Danney Williams, 42. They were flown from College Station in southeast Texas to Houston via LifeFlight helicopter and are listed in critical condition.