WORLD BRIEFS
ITALY: 2 parties reject overtures
A political crisis that has rattled the eurozone deepened on Wednesday when two party leaders ruled out the most likely options to form a government and avoid a new election. Populist leader Beppe Grillo slammed the door on overtures from center-left boss Pier Luigi Bersani with a stream of insults while Nichi Vendola, Bersani's junior coalition partner, ruled out a government alliance with the center-right. Grillo's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement blocked center-left control of parliament in one of Europe's biggest populist victories.
SLOVENIA: Prime minister removed
Parliament ousted Prime Minister Janez Jansa and his conservative government Wednesday and named an opposition financial expert as his replacement. A 55-33 vote in the 90-seat legislature appointed Alenka Bratusek as prime minister-designate, the first female to lead Slovenia since its secession from Yugoslavia in 1991. Jansa's government, elected a year ago, fell apart when three coalition parties left the cabinet after the state anti-graft watchdog accused Jansa in January of corruption by failing to declare $285,000 of his personal assets.
SWITZERLAND: 3 shot dead in wood factory
Three people were killed and seven injured in a shooting at a wood-processing plant, police said. The gunman, a 42-year-old who worked at wood-processing company Kronospan Switzerland, was one of the dead, Lucerne cantonal police said Wednesday. A motive wasn't known for the attack at the factory in Menznau, 12 miles west of Lucerne. Switzerland, where men can keep army-issue firearms after mandatory military service, has been debating stricter gun control since January, when a 33-year-old gunman killed three people in the southern village of Daillon.
MEXICO: Union leader held for embezzling
Mexico's most powerful woman was charged with a massive embezzlement scheme on Wednesday, grim-faced behind bars live on national television in an apparent message that the new government is asserting its authority. It is a dizzying fall from power for national teachers union head Elba Esther Gordillo.
'It's depressing, it's frustrating' A Newsday investigation revealed that Grumman Aerospace knew toxic chemicals were leaking into the ground in Bethpage. Newsday Associate Editor Paul LaRocco and Deputy Editor David Schwartz explain.
'It's depressing, it's frustrating' A Newsday investigation revealed that Grumman Aerospace knew toxic chemicals were leaking into the ground in Bethpage. Newsday Associate Editor Paul LaRocco and Deputy Editor David Schwartz explain.
