Nation briefs 7/9/06

Spacewalk technique works, astronauts say

HOUSTON -- A key test of a daring yet wobbly spacewalking technique that could be used someday to repair space shuttle heat shields worked well Saturday and got good reviews from two astronauts from the shuttle Discovery, NASA officials said. In a 7 1/2-hour spacewalk, Piers Sellers and Michael Fossum said they could do most of the mock tasks they were assigned with only moderate difficulty.

Car drives into crowd at Conn. festival; 27 injured

NEW LONDON, Conn. -- An elderly man drove his station wagon into a crowd at a summer festival, injuring 27 people, city officials said. Mayor Elizabeth Sabilia said two people had serious injuries. The rest were non-life-threatening. The accident happened about 3:30 p.m. near the Amtrak station during the city's Sailfest summer festival. Sabilia said the motorist was driving across the tracks to get to the Fishers Island ferry when his car struck a pedestrian. "He panicked," she said. The car then lurched through the crowd, which witnesses said was about four- or five-people deep. The driver, whose name has not been released, was suffering from confusion. He and the victims were transported to a hospital, the mayor said.

Navy to resume use of sonar after whale debate

HONOLULU -- The Navy said it will use active sonar during warfare exercises off Hawaii as early as this weekend, after reaching an agreement Friday with environmentalists who claimed it poses a threat to whales and other sea life. The settlement prevents the Navy from using the sonar within 25 miles of the newly established Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument during its Rim of the Pacific 2006 exercises.

-- From wire reports