An investigation into a single-vehicle crash in southwest Redmond Tuesday that sent a 16-year-old Redmond driver to the hospital by air ambulance is continuing, deputies reported. According to Deschutes County Sheriff’s deputies Sgt. Scott Beard and Merlin Toney, a 1997 Isuzu Trooper was traveling north on SW Helmboltz Drive at a high rate of speed when it left the road on the east shoulder near SW Harvest Avenue. The 16-year-old female driver overcorrected, swerved back ... [full story]

WEATHERFORD, Texas - A county judge in central Texas ordered the evacuation of about 2,500 people in an anticipation of flooding. Parker County, Texas, Judge Mark Riley ordered the evacuation of communities along the Brazos River ahead of an expected 3-foot rise in the river level following the expected opening of flood gates in Possum Kingdom Lake, the Weatherford (Texas) Democrat reported. "We've ordered the evacuation of five specific areas along the river, primarily in ... [full story]

ATLANTA - Hundreds of thousands of tubes of tainted toothpaste from China have been found in U.S. facilities for the mentally ill, juveniles and others. The New York Times reported Thursday that the Chinese toothpaste was distributed in state institutions in Georgia and North Carolina. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration advised consumers to discard all Chinese toothpaste. The toothpaste distributed in hospitals for the mentally ill, juvenile detention facilities and some hospitals for the ... [full story]

BRUSSELS - A tentative deal between the United States and the European Union would cut the amount of information shared about air travelers, it was reported Thursday. EU diplomats told the International Herald Tribune the trans-Atlantic passenger data could be kept longer, 15 years instead of the current three years, under the tentative agreement reached in a conference call between EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini, U.S. Secretary for Homeland Security Michael Chertoff ... [full story]

NAIROBI, Kenya - An anti-Western cult in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi has been blamed for at least 30 gruesome deaths since April and is growing in impoverished areas. The group is called Mungiki, meaning "the masses," and operates similar to Mafia organizations in secret oaths, extorting money and eliminating the non-compliant by beheading them and drinking their blood, a Chicago Tribune foreign correspondent reported. Political scientist Peter Kagwanja has researched the cult and said ... [full story]

LOS ANGELES - More than half of U.S. interstate highways have reached congested status, and highway fatalities have risen, the annual Reason Foundation's study found. The 16th annual report said California, Minnesota, New Jersey and North Carolina are stuck in the worst traffic, with more than 70 percent of urban interstates in those states qualifying as congested. New Jersey's ranking of worst marks the eighth straight year at the bottom, the report said. The study ... [full story]

LONDON - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced his new Labor Cabinet in London Thursday, including the first female home secretary. Brown, installed Wednesday as prime minister to replace the retiring Tony Blair, named Jacqui Smith as home secretary, akin to the U.S. secretary of state. As his own replacement as chancellor, or finance minister, Brown named Alistair Darling as widely anticipated by British media. Jack Straw, a former home secretary and foreign secretary was ... [full story]

TEHRAN - Southern Iran was rocked by a moderate earthquake measuring 3.9 on the Richter scale, the IRNA news agency reported Thursday. The Geophysics Institute of Tehran University reported the quake occurred about 10:30 Wednesday night in the southern province of Hormuzgan. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, IRNA said. Iran sits on one of the world's most active seismic fault lines. On Dec. 26, 2003, a quake measuring 6.3 hit the ... [full story]

WASHINGTON - Public opinion among 47 countries surveyed showed distrust in the United States, China and Russia, the Pew Research Center reported Thursday. Majorities of respondents in 25 of the 47 countries surveyed express positive views of the United States but, since a similar poll in 2002, favorable ratings are lower in 26 of 33 countries for which trends are available. China's expanding economic and military power is also a cause for anxiety, as large ... [full story]

PRETORIA, South Africa - A nearly monthlong South African public service strike ended Thursday when most unions agreed to 7.5 percent wage increase. An agreement to accept the June 22 offer brought the longest and largest public strike in South Africa to an end, The Independent reported. The strike began June 1. Most unions agreed to the offer but some were reportedly still discussing it. "Others in the education sector are not prepared to sign ... [full story]