USA
Investigators of the Metrolink commuter train crash in Los Angeles Sept. 12 narrowed their probe to human error Wednesday and said the engineer ran through a red light and didn't hit the brakes before the collision with a freight train. With one train exiting a tunnel and the other rounding a bend, they were within view only four or five seconds, tests revealed. The head-on collision killed 25 people, including the engineer, who may have been text-messaging.
The US will begin to review genetically engineered animals to ensure that they are safe to eat, the Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday. It is unclear how consumers will react to such animals, even with a government seal of approval.
The Senate passed a $612.5 billion defense spending bill for fiscal 2009 on Wednesday that calls for trimming President Bush's request for missile-defense spending and that shifts more of the costs of Iraq's reconstruction onto Baghdad, but raises pay for military personnel. The Senate's bill must now be reconciled with a House version, passed earlier.
Millions of obsolete American electronic devices are recycled in developing countries "with virtually no human health or environmental protection," according to a report by congressional investigators released Wednesday. The Environment Protection Agency says the study overstates the problem.
Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki tied a major-league record that has stood for more than a century by recording his eighth straight 200-hit season on Wednesday. He tied the mark of Willie Keeler. Suzuki set the single-season record with 262 hits in 2004.
Teams of the top men's professional golfers in the US and Europe commence three days of matches Friday in the biennial Ryder Cup team competition at the Valhalla Golf Cup in Louisville, Ky. Europe has won the last three times, including by wide margins in 2004 and 2006.
Detroit gets new leadership Friday, as City Council President Ken Cockrel Jr. becomes interim mayor, replacing Kwame Kilpatrick, who heads to jail for four months after pleading guilty earlier this month to two counts of obstruction of justice. The council said a special election will be held next year to fill the balance of Kilpatrick's term.
