Nation/world briefs

Report calls for increased volcano monitoring

WASHINGTON -- While Mount St. Helens and Kilauea generate the most attention, many other volcanoes in the United States have little or no regular monitoring and need to be watched for potential eruptions, a new report warns. The U.S. Geological Survey said Friday that monitoring gaps exist for volcanoes in Alaska, California, Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, Wyoming and the Northern Mariana Islands that could pose a hazard both on the ground and to aviation. The report calls for a 24-hour, seven-day Volcano Watch Office and increased monitoring at many of the peaks.

Gunmen torch German cultural center in Togo

LOME, Togo -- Black-clad, masked assailants torched a German cultural center Friday in Togo's latest post-election violence. The declared winner of the contested presidential vote vowed he would not allow the country to slip into civil war. Opposition coordinator Yawovi Agboyibo claimed 100 people were killed and more than 300 wounded by government loyalists and security forces in violence that erupted after Sunday's vote.

Researchers find cluster of lost fishing nets

WASHINGTON -- Researchers using satellites and aircraft have located a concentration of lost or abandoned fishing nets that drift through the oceans posing a danger to fish and other wildlife. Ocean winds and currents can concentrate drifting materials, so the scientists used satellites to study the winds and currents to determine areas where concentrations can occur -- locating one such area in the Pacific Ocean north of Hawaii. They found a large concentration of drifting nets, balls of fish net up to 30 feet across and other debris in an area that forms a boundary between northern waters and southern waters. Now that they have confirmed the location of the nets, the researchers are trying to determine the best way to clean them up.

Factory worker convicted in slaying of California girl

SANTA ANA, Calif. -- A jury deliberated nearly nine hours before finding a factory worker guilty of kidnapping and murdering 5-year-old Samantha Runnion, whose 2002 death outraged the public and led to stronger efforts to rescue abducted children. Alejandro Avila, 30, was convicted Thursday of kidnapping, murder and sexual assault during the second day of deliberations. In the penalty phase, set to begin Wednesday, jurors will decide whether to recommend the death sentence or life in prison without parole. Samantha was abducted, kicking and screaming, from outside her home in Stanton on July 15, 2002. Her nude body was found the following day in mountains some 50 miles away, left on the ground as if it had been posed.

Peru's 'mermaid' baby celebrates first birthday

LIMA, Peru -- Peru's "little mermaid" -- the baby born with legs fused together from her thighs to her ankles -- celebrated her first birthday Friday in the public hospital where doctors hope to perform risky surgery to repair her rare birth defect. Dr. Luis Rubio estimated that within two months the baby would be ready for the first of three complicated operations to separate her legs. Milagros was born with a rare congenital defect known as sirenomelia, or "mermaid syndrome," which occurs in one out of every 70,000 births. There are only three known cases of children with the affliction alive in the world today.

Wedding turns to prayer vigil for missing bride

DULUTH, Ga. -- A lavish wedding with 600 guests seemed destined to become a prayer service after police called off the search Friday for a missing bride-to-be. Jennifer Carol Wilbanks disappeared Tuesday after her fiance said she went on a jog and never came back. Hundreds of police and volunteers spent the week searching the woods for the nurse. With authorities acknowledging Friday they have no solid leads, relatives offered a $100,000 reward and said wedding guests likely will still gather at the church today, but for a prayer vigil instead.