Ricin letters sent to Obama, mayor
Ricin letters sent to Obama, mayor
WASHINGTON (AP) — A suspicious letter mailed to the White House was similar to two threatening, poison-laced letters on the gun law debate sent to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, one of the nation’s most potent gun-control advocates, officials said Thursday.
The Secret Service said the letter was addressed to President Barack Obama and was intercepted by a White House mail screening facility. Two similar letters postmarked in Louisiana and sent to Bloomberg in New York and his gun control group in Washington contained traces of the deadly poison ricin.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the letter sent to Obama contained ricin. It was turned over to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force for testing and investigation.
The two Bloomberg letters, opened last Friday in New York and Sunday in Washington, contained an oily pinkish-orange substance.
New York Police Department Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Thursday that all three letters apparently came from the same machine or computer and may be identical but referred specific questions to the FBI.
The FBI said field tests on the letters were consistent with the presence of a biological agent, and the letters were turned over to an accredited laboratory for the kind of thorough analysis that is needed to verify a tentative finding. Tornadoes land in Okla., Arkansas
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — At least two tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma and another hit Arkansas on Thursday as a powerful storm system moved through the middle of the country.
At least one injury was reported when a home was hit in rural western Arkansas.
The National Weather Service reported two tornadoes on the ground near Perkins and Ripley in north central Oklahoma and another west of Oden, Ark.
Arkansas Emergency Management spokesman Tommy Jackson said first responders were having trouble reaching the destroyed home because a number of trees were blocking the road. Montgomery County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Brandy Wingfield said there was property damage, including downed power lines, in the area.
Perkins Emergency Management Director Travis Majors said there were no injuries or damage there. Ripley, about 10 miles east of Perkins, did not seem to have significant damage. The Payne County emergency management director did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
Thursday’s tornadoes were much less dangerous than the EF5 storm that struck Moore, Okla., on May 20 and killed 24 along its 17-mile path.
7 people killed in trailer accident
TRUXTON, N.Y. (AP) — A runaway trailer hauling crushed cars slammed into a minivan carrying two families in upstate New York, killing four young children and three adults in their early 20s, authorities said Thursday.
All seven victims, including four children ages 4 to 7, were killed and a man was injured when their van was hit by a trailer that broke away from a truck on Route 13 around 6 p.m. Wednesday in the rural town of Truxton, about 25 miles south of Syracuse.
The accident Wednesday night claimed the lives of 26-year-old Teresa Bush and her daughters, 4-year-old Alexis and Jasmine, 5. Also killed were 21-year-old Lena Beckwith; Carino Vanorden, 24; Alyssa Mead, 7; and Tyler Mead, 4.
Shawn Mead, the father of the two Mead children, was transported to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse where he was in good condition.
All of the victims were from the local area.
Oil drops below $93 a barrel
Associated Press
The price of oil fell below $93 a barrel Thursday amid concerns about global economic growth and as traders awaited the latest U.S. crude inventories data.
By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for July delivery was down 46 cents to $92.67 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
On Wednesday, the contract fell $1.88, hit by concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve may ease up on its stimulus measures and that the Wall Street rally was cooling.
Later Thursday, the U.S. Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration will release its latest figures on U.S. stockpiles of crude. Data for the week ending May 24 is expected to show a decline of 1.5 million barrels in crude oil stocks, according to a survey of analysts by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
Also weighing on oil prices was the International Monetary Fund’s cut to its 2013 economic growth forecast for China from 8 percent to 7.75 percent due to weaker global demand. The IMF said the Chinese economy should remain robust, but the revised prediction about the world’s second-largest oil consumer was considered bearish for the oil market.
Meanwhile, ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will meet in Vienna on Friday to discuss, among other things, production levels. But more complex issues also face OPEC, including the rise of shale oil production in the U.S. The Paris-based International Energy Agency says total production could top 9 million barrels a day by 2018, which would mean near self-sufficiency for the U.S. as well as significantly less dependence on OPEC imports.
JBC Energy in Vienna estimated OPEC’s output in May at 30.4 million barrels, mainly on higher crude production by Saudi Arabia. While OPEC has a voluntary quota of 30 million barrels a day, the group has been overshooting its target for months, resulting in plentiful supplies and helping keep prices below $100 a barrel.
Brent crude, a benchmark for many international oil varieties, was down 68 cents to $101.75 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
In other energy futures trading on Nymex:
— Wholesale gasoline dropped 1.4 cents to $2.784 a gallon.
— Heating oil fell 1.98 cents to $2.845 per gallon.
— Natural gas shed 0.2 cent to $4.182 per 1,000 cubic feet.