BOLIVIA
U.S. man arrested with gold
Bolivian police said they detained a 76-year-old U.S. citizen with more than 121 pounds of gold. Anti-narcotics chief Santiago Delgadillo said Robert Agnew Meyer also was found with a small amount of cocaine and several pounds of silver coins. He put the value of the gold alone at more than $1.5 million. Delgadillo said the man is being investigated for possible smuggling, though he has not been charged. Police didn’t say Saturday where Meyer is from or how long he’s been living in Bolivia.
ENGLAND
Battle of Hastings marked
Thousands of people including many in full costume marked the 950th anniversary of the 1066 Battle of Hastings with a dramatic re-enactment Saturday. It was part of a weekend of festivities to commemorate the landmark event in British history. Some of the participants dressed as warriors walked roughly 300 miles from York in northern England to the Battle Abbey in East Sussex in southern England to re-create a march that preceded the battle. They camped along the way. The famous battle between William of Normandy and Anglo-Saxon King Harold ended in the latter’s death. William assumed the crown on Christmas Day and ruled until his death in 1087.
INDIA
Stampede kills 24, injures 20
At least 24 people were killed and 20 others injured in a stampede that occurred as they were crossing a crowded bridge to reach a Hindu religious ceremony in northern India on Saturday, police said. The stampede took place on the outskirts of Varanasi, a city in Uttar Pradesh state known for its temples. Organizers were expecting 3,000 devotees at the ceremony, but more than 70,000 thronged the ashram of a local Hindu leader on the banks of the Ganges River, said police officer S.K. Bhagat. The stampede happened as police started turning back people from the overcrowded bridge, a spokesman for the organizers said. That triggered a rumor the bridge had collapsed, and people started running for safety, he said.
PHILIPPINES
Typhoon leaves two dead
A powerful typhoon has slammed into the northeastern Philippines and has left at least two people dead, knocked out power and isolated villages in floods and toppled trees. Officials say Typhoon Karika blew into Aurora province early Sunday and is barreling fast through heavily populated agricultural provinces with sustained winds of 80 mph and gusts of 136 mph.
Compiled from wire reports