Around the world
PRISONERS: A Polish diplomat Friday took food, medicine and clothing to two Americans held in Iraq's Abu Ghaib prison. Ryszard Krystosik, head of the U.S. Interests Section run by the Polish Embassy, said the items had been requested by David Daliberti and William Barloon, imprisoned for illegally entering Iraq. The diplomat told reporters he was also taking them vitamins, cigarettes, magazines and newspapers.
SPICE: School cook Manohar Morgan was fired as a school cook because his curries were too spicy. Teachers at a primary school in the central English town of Dudley com-plained they "were red hot and left them like dragons blowing fire," catering manager Betty Coleman told an industrial tribunal, defending the decision to sack him. Even Asian children rejected his curries.
Across the nation
AIR FARES: Northwest Airlines kicked off the industry's summer sale Friday by cutting fares up to 50 percent on some domestic flights. The fares may be the lowest travelers will see this summer, said Michael E. Levine, a Northwest executive vice president. Other major carriers generally match fare sales in competing markets. Northwest passengers must fly Tuesday, Wednesday or on Saturday afternoons between May 1 and Sept. 14 to get the full 50 percent discount in cities where it is offered.
BITE: An HIV-positive woman in West Palm Beach, Fla., has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after biting an elderly man who eventually tested positive for the AIDS virus. Naomi Morrison, who has carried the virus since at least 1988, pleaded guilty in November to aggravated battery on a person over 65, robbery and auto burglary. Authorities say the man, 91, may be the first person to contract the disease through a bite.
ATTACK: A man claims his German car told him to kill an American-made one. His choice? A Chevrolet police car. Simpson Williams Jr. lost control of his Mercedes Benz on Tuesday and it struck a pole and fence in Natchitoches, La., police said. When a patrol car arrived to investigate, Williams rammed his car into it and pushed it into a yard and garage. Williams, 42, was jailed without bond on charges of attempted murder, driving while intoxicated and damage to property.
THEFT: A former Northwest Airlines baggage handler nick-named "Eddie the Curse" for his bad luck at gambling faces up to 18 months in prison after admitting he stole credit cards from mail shipments to pay off his debts. Edward Flaherty pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston Thursday. Prosecutors said that Flaherty and a colleague, Joseph Faretra, diverted credit cards from Northwest mail shipments to use themselves or sell through an accomplice.
In Washington
BOOSTER: A new, winged, reusable rocket launched from an airplane could begin carrying sattelites into orbit in about three years. The rocket booster, called the X-34, is being developed by American Space Lines, a new company owned jointly by Rockwell International Inc. of Downey, Calif., and Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va. Company officials said Thursday the new rocket booster will be able to deliver satellite payloads of up to 2,500 pounds to low Earth orbit by 1998.