Nation briefs12/29/03

Seven missing after more bodies found in mudslide

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. -- Seven people were still missing Sunday amid the river of debris and muck that a rainstorm had sent sliding through a church camp in Waterman Canyon, an area of the San Bernardino Mountains devastated by wildfires just two months earlier. Emergency crews returned to the camp Sunday for a third day of searching as parishioners held a memorial service for the dead at the campground.

Hat of victim found in search after avalanche

PROVO, Utah -- A dog found a cap that belonged to a missing snowboarder Sunday as teams searched for three young men buried by a huge avalanche. The gray ski cap was the first visible clue recovered since the three were caught by the slide Friday in Provo Canyon in Utah's remote northern backcountry. After the discovery, the search was suspended so crews could use explosives to blast away more loose snow as a precaution against further avalanches. Adam Merz, 18, Rod Newberry, 20, and Mike Hebert, 19, were snowboarding with two other friends when they were swept away by the avalanche that piled snow as much as 10 feet deep. The two other friends survived.

Jackson claims he was manhandled by police

NEW YORK -- Michael Jackson says he was manhandled by authorities when arrested last month on child molestation charges -- and suffered a dislocated shoulder from the way he was handcuffed. "It's hurting me very badly," Jackson told CBS' "60 Minutes" in an interview broadcast Sunday. "I'm in pain all the time." The pop music star denied the charges against him in a partial transcript of the interview released Friday, and said he still believes it's acceptable to have children sleep in his bed. Jackson, 45, is charged with seven counts of performing lewd or lascivious acts upon a child under 14 and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent. After surrendering to Santa Barbara, Calif., authorities Nov. 20, he was set free on $3 million bail.

Mad cow case heightens feed inspections debate

WASHINGTON -- Congressional investigators last year sharply criticized federal efforts to keep mad cow disease out of the United States after finding weak enforcement of a ban on certain cattle feed considered the likely source of such infections. The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates animal feed, says enforcement has improved so significantly that 99.9 percent of the nation's feed companies comply with the ban. But the agency acknowledges that statistic is based on inspection of company records -- not on independent testing of the potentially infectious feed itself. Such tests are still being developed.

-- From wire reports