World briefs 7/6/07

Subway train derails in London, 37 injured

LONDON -- A subway train derailed in London during morning rush hour Thursday. About 900 passengers were evacuated after the westbound Central Line train derailed between the Bethnal Green and Mile End stations in east London, police said. Police said the accident was not related to terrorism. Paramedics treated 37 people at the scene for mostly minor injuries. Eleven of them were hospitalized. The cause of the accident was under investigation. The driver said he saw something white flapping in the tunnel, possibly some sort of sheeting, before the train collided with it, London's transport department said in a statement.

Libby pays fine as Clintons criticize Bush

WASHINGTON -- The White House on Thursday made fun of former president Clinton and his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, for criticizing President Bush's decision to erase the prison sentence of former aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. "I don't know what Arkansan is for chutzpah, but this is a gigantic case of it," presidential spokesman Tony Snow said. In his commutation decision, Bush left a $250,000 fine. Libby paid the fine Thursday. In the closing hours of his presidency, Clinton pardoned 140 people, including fugitive financier Marc Rich.

Russia refuses to turn over poisoning suspect

MOSCOW -- Russian prosecutors said Thursday they have officially refused Britain's request to extradite a businessman accused in last year's fatal poisoning of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko. Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika's office said its refusal to turn over Andrei Lugovoi was based on a constitutional prohibition against turning over Russian citizens to foreign nations, as well as a European convention on extradition. In May, Britain accused Lugovoi, a former agent-turned-businessman, of involvement in the killing of Litvinenko, who died in a London hospital in November from a fatal dose of the radioactive substance, polonium-210.

Irish regatta ends with sudden storm, rescue

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Rescuers plucked about 110 children from the sea Thursday after a sudden squall hit their flotilla of sailboats during a race in the Irish Sea, officials said. The sailors, mostly teenagers but some as young as 12, were taking part in the National Yacht Club junior regatta when a surge in winds and waves capsized many of their 91 boats. More than 100 children were rescued and evaluated on shore for hypothermia and shock. Fifteen children and one adult were treated at a hospital, but all were expected to be released.

Dispatchers use fast food to find 911 caller

CARPENTERSVILLE, Ill. -- Authorities tracked down a 4-year-old girl who called 911 nearly 300 times last month by offering to deliver McDonald's to her suburban Chicago apartment. Unbeknownst to her mother, the girl used a deactivated cell phone to call dispatchers 287 times in June -- sometimes as often as 20 times a shift. Dispatchers heard the child's voice but could only track the phone's signal to the apartment complex. So authorities used a ruse to pinpoint her. "We asked [the caller] what she wanted. She said she wanted McDonald's," said Steve Cordes, executive director of QuadCom's emergency center, which covers Carpentersville. "We talked with her and we convinced her if she told us where she lives, we would bring her McDonald's," he said. "She finally gave us her address. So we sent the police over -- with no McDonald's." After police arrived, the girl's mother took away the phone, Cordes said. Under federal law, deactivated cell phones still must be able to access 911. Many deactivated phones will contact an emergency call center if the user holds down the nine key.

-- From wire reports