The nation in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY “We’re already seeing extreme weather and it’s happening now.We’re seeing more heat

waves, particularly in the West and in the South.” University of Illinois climate scientist Donald Wuebbles, co-author of the National Climate Assessment to be released today, saying the U.S. is already experiencing the costly effects of man-made global warming.

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Struggle over gun hurts 1 at VA hospital

DAYTON, Ohio - A Veterans Affairs hospital employee and a retired worker were struggling over a gun in a break room Monday when the firearm went off, leading to the employee’s shooting and the retiree’s arrest, police said.

The victim, a 61-year-old man, was shot once in the ankle, said Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl. The suspect, Neil Moore, 59, was taken into custody after seeking psychiatric treatment at a different hospital a few miles away, Biehl said.

The suspect and victim apparently knew each other, but it was too soon to determine what led to the shooting, Biehl said. Authorities said there were three witnesses to the shooting.

Moore worked in housekeeping before retiring, said Glenn Costie, chief executive of the hospital. He did not have any other details about Moore’s employment history.

The FBI said a revolver was found inside the suspect’s vehicle. A woman who answered the phone at Moore’s house in suburban Dayton said the family had no comment and wouldn’t give her name.

Inmate seeks 6-month execution stay

OKLAHOMA CITY - Attorneys for an Oklahoma inmate who was to be put to death the same night as a botched execution asked the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on Monday to grant a stay for at least six months pending a review into what went wrong last week.

Lawyers for Charles Warner cited last Tuesday’s execution of Clayton Lockett, who writhed on the gurney, gritted his teeth and moaned before being pronounced dead of an apparent heart attack 43 minutes after the execution began.

The stay should be granted “until evidence can be provided to counsel for Warner that the state of Oklahoma can carry out a humane, constitutional execution,” according to the emergency application for a stay.

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt has said he believes no executions should occur until a review of Lockett’s execution is complete.

“We’re reviewing the latest request and will file a response,” Pruitt spokesman Diane Clay said Monday.

Warner, who was convicted of raping and killing an 11-month-old in 1997, has maintained his innocence. He was scheduled to die last week two hours after Lockett, but Gov.

Mary Fallin issued a two-week stay pending a thorough inquiry into Lockett’s execution. Fallin also has said she is willing to extend her stay for up to 60 days, the maximum length she2 dead, 2 hurt after Chinese boat sinks

SAN DIEGO - U.S. Air Force rescuers on Monday hoisted two badly burned Chinese fishermen from a Venezuelan boat hundreds of miles off Mexico’s Pacific coast to take them to a San Diego hospital.

The two were among 17 Chinese crew members believed aboard a fishing vessel that caught fire and sank in the Pacific Ocean. Two died from burn injuries, seven were determined to be in good condition and six are believed missing, said Maj. Sarah Schwennesen of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Ariz.

A Venezuelan fishing vessel spotted a life raft with 11 fishermen Friday and sent a call for help.

Responding to the call, airmen from the Air Force’s 563rd Rescue Group parachuted into the water Saturday afternoon and used inflatable boats to reach the Venezuelan vessel.

Rescuers treated the two burn victims, stabilizing them taken to a hospital in San Diego.

Broken clip found after circus plunge

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - A carabiner is the only piece of equipment investigators have found that failed in a circus accident in which eight aerial acrobats plummeted to the ground, a public safety official said Monday.

Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare stopped short of saying the broken carabiner was the cause of Sunday’s accident at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey circus. He said federal workplace safety investigators were trying to determine why it snapped.

The 4- to 5-inch steel clip was one of several pieces at the top of a chandelier-like apparatus that suspended the performers in the air, fire officials said at a news conference. The clip was found in three pieces on the ground with its spine snapped.

All eight of the acrobats were still hospitalized with injuries including a pierced liver and neck and back fractures, as well as head injuries. None of the injuries appear to be life-threatening, said Stephen Payne, a spokesman for Feld Entertainment, Ringling’s parent company. The last two acrobats in critical condition were upgraded to serious condition Monday night. Four of the acrobats were in condition and four in serious.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 05/06/2014

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