Weather clears and survivors count blessings as they seek belongings after Ark. twisters

DAMASCUS, Ark. — Smoke rose from burning heaps of wreckage Saturday as residents of rural Arkansas cleaned up what was left of their homes after deadly tornadoes scoured a state that has been plagued by severe weather this year.

All that remained of Shelia Massey's home were a chimney, a bathroom wall, and a bathtub that was her storm shelter.

"God's hand was down and held us there while the rest of the house just blew away," said Massey, 54. "That's all there was to it. The Lord held us there."

A child poking through the rubble found a photograph of Massey's husband, who was not at home when the violent weather struck Friday. The storms killed seven people, damaged or destroyed about 400 homes, and knocked out electrical and telephone service for thousands of customers in 18 counties.

Altogether, meteorologists said more than 25 tornadoes may have touched down across middle America late Thursday and early Friday, but Arkansas was the hardest hit.

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Small plane landing at Idaho airport hits another on runway, killing 3 and injuring 3

McCALL, Idaho — A small plane struck another craft as it was landing at an Idaho airport, killing three people and injuring three, including a 2-year-old pulled from the burning wreckage by the other survivors, officials said Saturday.

A Cessna 172 with two people aboard was landing at the McCall Municipal Airport on Friday night when it struck another plane of the same type with four people aboard, said Ian Gregor, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman. Both aircraft exploded, he said.

Killed were Bill Keating, 52, the pilot of the aircraft that was struck, and two grandsons, ages 1 and 6, McCall police and fire officials said in a statement.

Another grandson, 2, was flown to the University of Utah Burn Center in critical condition, the statement said.

The pilot of the landing aircraft, Justin Mooney, 30, and passenger Mark Fuller, 27, pulled the 2-year-old from the burning plane, the statement said. They were treated and released from McCall Memorial Hospital, a nursing supervisor said Saturday.

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As ashes cool, authorities confirm New Mexico wildfire has burned nearly 60 homes

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Firefighters worked in cooler, calmer weather Saturday to clear lines around a blaze that has burned nearly 60 homes and more than 20 square miles in the mountains of central New Mexico.

Authorities were able to confirm Saturday that 50 homes burned Wednesday in a fire caused by humans in the Manzano Mountains, southeast of Albuquerque, said Linda Peters, a fire information officer. Nine homes had burned earlier.

The 50 homes — most in an area called Sherwood Forest, west of the community of Torreon — went up Wednesday after the fire jumped containment lines.

The tally was conducted Friday and Saturday when the ashes from the 13,790-acre fire had cooled enough to allow authorities in, Peters said.

The blaze had been 95 percent contained before a spot fire flared Wednesday and wind gusts of more than 50 mph drove the flames to the northeast.

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Dalai Lama's government-in-exile positive that talks with China will bring progress

BEIJING — The Dalai Lama's government-in-exile expressed optimism about upcoming talks with Chinese officials, but cautioned Saturday not to expect too much from the first meeting between the two sides since violent anti-government protests erupted in Tibet.

Talks were scheduled to begin Sunday and last for a day or two in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, which neighbors Hong Kong, said Samdhong Rinpoche, the prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile based in Dharmsala, India.

"We are positive that something good will come out of it," Rinpoche told The Associated Press.

Two of the Dalai Lama's representatives planned to push for peace in Tibetan areas of China and address Beijing's accusations that the spiritual leader has been masterminding the recent unrest, he told a public rally in Dharmsala.

But Rinpoche added afterward: "Our hopes are high, but this is just a small step in a long process."

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Portugal still investigating 4-year-old Madeleine McCann's disappearance a year later

PRAIA DA LUZ, Portugal — A year after Madeleine McCann vanished from a resort in southern Portugal, churches services marked the anniversary Saturday and police said they are still gathering evidence into the British girl's disappearance.

Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, walked hand-in-hand to a service near their home in Rothley, central England. They made no comment to the media.

In Portugal's Algarve region, worshippers, including Gerry McCann's brother John and other family members, packed a 19th-century beach-side chapel in Praia da Luz for an evening Mass in English and Portuguese. A message written by Kate McCann was read out in both languages.

Madeleine disappeared during a family vacation in Praia da Luz on May 3 last year, a few days before her fourth birthday.

Police have named the McCanns and a local man, Robert Murat, as formal suspects in the case. All deny involvement in her disappearance, and police have not decided whether to file charges — or drop the case.

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Iraq: U.S. strike takes out suspected militant hideout near hospital

BAGHDAD — The U.S. military fired guided missiles into the heart of Baghdad's teeming Sadr City slum on Saturday, leveling a building 55 yards away from a hospital and wounding nearly two dozen people.

AP Television News footage showed several ambulances destroyed and on fire, thick black smoke rising from them as firefighters worked to put out the flames.

The strike, made from a ground launcher, took out a militant "command-control center," the U.S. military said. The center was located in the heart of the eight-square-mile neighborhood that is home to about 2.5 million people. Iraqi officials said at least 23 people were wounded, though none of them were patients in the hospital.

The U.S. military blamed the militants for using Iraqi civilians as human shields.

"This is a circumstance where these criminal groups are operating directly out of civilian neighborhoods," military spokeswoman Spc. Megan Burmeister told The Associated Press in an e-mail.

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Film details Hispanic Marine's acts in WWII, pushes to get him posthumous Medal of Honor

MIAMI — Armed but alone, Marine Pfc. Guy Gabaldon roamed Saipan's caves and pillboxes, persuading enemy soldiers and civilians to surrender during the hellish World War II battle on the island.

Using the Japanese language skills he learned as a boy, he warned the Japanese they would die if they stayed hidden and told them Marines were not torturers as they had heard. The Marines, he said, would feed them and give them medical care. Many agreed, and Gabaldon, just 18, led them back to U.S. lines.

By the battle's end, Gabaldon had coaxed more than 1,000 Japanese out of the steamy caves. He was praised as being brave and compassionate, and he received a Silver Star — later upgraded to a Navy Cross. His actions were recounted on television and in movies.

Now, almost two years after his death, there is a renewed campaign to give Gabaldon the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award. A new documentary, "East L.A. Marine," asks whether Gabaldon's Hispanic heritage prevented him from receiving the medal, though others blame his tough and outspoken nature.

Critics question whether Gabaldon deserves the medal, saying his feats do not measure up to those of others on Saipan.

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Friends sad, angry with news of how man among them kept daughter locked away for 24 years

AMSTETTEN, Austria — Nearly a week after news of a 73-year-old Austrian's alleged incest and rape rattled this Alpine nation, friends of the family still grapple with how Josef Fritzl's crime could have happened in their midst — and gone unnoticed.

Fritzl's confession that he kept his daughter locked in a windowless lair for 24 years, fathering seven of her children, while posing as the head of a happy family has bewildered, angered and estranged former friends.

One of them, a 45-year-old woman from Munich, who would give her name only as Andrea S., said she felt duped and betrayed by Fritzl.

"If I would see him now, I would ask ... 'How can you do such a thing to your children?' " she told AP Television News in an interview Saturday.

That question was also on the minds of classmates of three of the children whom Fritzl fathered with Elisabeth — then allegedly smuggled out of the basement and dropped on the doorstep with notes police say he forced his daughter to write saying she couldn't raise them.

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