The News in 2 Minutes

From The Associated Press

Sen. Kennedy resting ‘comfortably’ after seizure

BOSTON— Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the lone surviving son in a famed political family who helped define national Democratic Party politics, suffered at seizure at his Cape Cod home on Saturday and was recovering in good spirits at a Boston hospital.

Dr. Larry Ronan said preliminary tests showed the 76-year-old Massachusetts Democrat had not suffered a stroke, is not “in any immediate danger,” was resting comfortably and would undergo further evaluation to determine the cause of the seizure.

Kennedy was “talking, joking with family,” who quickly surrounded him after he was airlifted to Massachusetts General Hospital, spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said.

Kennedy’s wife, Victoria, three of his children and his niece Caroline Kennedy were among those with him at the hospital, where he was watching a Red Sox game on television.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he spoke to Kennedy’s wife in the afternoon and was told “his condition is not life-threatening, but serious.”

The second longest serving member of the Senate had surgery in October to repair a nearly complete blockage in a major neck artery. The surgery is done to prevent stroke.

Obama returning to Iowa for rally

EUGENE, Ore.— Attempting to lay a symbolic claim to his party’s presidential nomination, Democrat Barack Obama will mark the latest round of primary voting with a rally in Iowa, where his solid win in January caucuses propelled him to his status as the front-runner.

Obama was campaigning Saturday for primaries Tuesday in Oregon and Kentucky as his aides announced the rally on primary night in Iowa, which they described as “a critical general election state that Democrats must win in November.”

Rival Hillary Rodham Clinton has a strong lead in polls in Kentucky, but Obama has the advantage in Oregon.

Iowa has been a swing state in recent elections. Democrat Al Gore narrowly carried the state in 2000, and President Bush collected the state’s seven electoral votes by just over 10,000 votes in 2004.

Since that time, however, Democrats have build a substantial edge in registered voters, and turnout in the January precinct caucuses was at record levels.

The last Democratic primaries are June 3 in Montana and South Dakota.

Train derailment, acid leak force evacuation

LAFAYETTE, La.—Six cars of a freight train derailed early Saturday, including one that began leaking hydrochloric acid, causing thousands of people to evacuate homes, businesses and two nursing homes within one mile of the wreck.

The spilled acid sent a toxic cloud over the area, and at least five people, including two railroad workers, were taken to a hospital and treated after complaining of skin and eye irritation, said Lafayette Parish sheriff’s Lt. Craig Stansbury.

Acadian Ambulance official Clay Henry said 20 bed-bound residents of the Our Lady of the Oaks nursing home taken to a hospital.

Police walked door-to-door notifying residents of the mandatory evacuation in an area with an estimated population of 3,500 people. “We’re advising them to take enough supplies for approximately 48 hours,” Stansbury said.

Flagstaff calls off fireworks show for good

FLAGSTAFF—After two consecutive years of Fourth of July fireworks show cancellations because of extreme fire danger, Flagstaff is ending the annual event for good.

The city tucked into Northern Arizona’s ponderosa pine forests instead plans a laser light show and concert to celebrate Independence Day.

Deputy City Manager Jim Wine says the decision was made by city officials and the event’s longtime sponsor.

Flagstaff’s fireworks show was called off at the last minute in 2006 and 2007

Iraq detains 1,000 in anti-al-Qaida crackdown

BAGHDAD—Nearly 1,000 people have been detained in a sweep to break al-Qaida in Iraq’s sway in Iraq’s third largest city, Mosul, but many of the fighters have fled to nearby areas, where troops are hunting for them, Iraqi officials said Saturday.

Iraq’s leaders presented the crackdown as a success so far in depriving the terror network of what has been its most prominent urban stronghold since it lost hold of cities in Iraq’s western Anbar province.

But the flight of al-Qaida fighters raises the concern they can regroup elsewhere, as has often happened in the past.