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Plane overruns runway, crashes into fence

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- An American Airlines plane overshot a runway near Kingston, Jamaica, and crashed into a fence, injuring 40 people but none seriously, officials said.

American Airlines said in a statement there were 148 passengers and six crew members aboard Flight 331. Tuesday's flight originated from Ronald Reagan Airport in Washington, stopping at Miami International Airport en route to Kingston.

Jamaican media reported it was raining when the plane overran the runway at Norman Manley International Airport and rammed a fence.

"Some (passengers) were shaken up badly, some are suffering from trauma and broken bones," Robert Mais, a passenger who walked away unscathed, told The Jamaican Gleaner.

"The care of our passengers and crew members is our highest priority and we will offer all the assistance necessary," said Gerard Arpey, the airline's chairman and chief executive officer, said in the statement.

American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith said the Boeing 737-800 sustained damage to the fuselage, some cracks and the landing gear on one side collapsed, CNN reported. He said claims the craft broke into pieces were false.

Mark Hart, chairman of the Airports Authority of Jamaica, told The Gleaner heavy rains could have caused problems with visibility.

"It is obviously a blessing that at this time of the year, what could have turned out to be a catastrophe, we were saved from," Hart said.

The incident forced the delay of a Virgin Airlines fight to Britain because of a closed runway, officials said.

'Balloon Boy' dad gets 90 days in jail

FORT COLLINS, Colo., Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Richard Heene, the Colorado father who admitted falsely claiming his son was adrift in a balloon, must serve 90 days in jail, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Larimer County Judge Stephen Schapanski ordered Heene be locked up for 30 days and serve the remaining 60 days under work release conditions, The Denver Post reported.

Heene's wife Mayumi, who had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in the Oct. 15 incident, drew a sentence of four years probation, USA Today reported.

"I do want to reiterate that I'm very, very sorry," Richard Heene told Schapanski at the hearing while choking back tears.

The couple admitted they lied when they told authorities their 6-year-old son Falcon was aboard a homemade helium balloon that had escaped from their back yard in an "experiment gone wrong," and that they were actually seeking to gain publicity to aid the family's career as "reality television" stars.

"You know, what happened here has spun so wildly out of control that nobody had any inkling that this would be the worldwide event that it turned into," Heene lawyer David Lane told reporters.

Richard Heene pleaded guilty to attempting to influence a public servant, a felony with a potential sentence of six months to two years. His wife pleaded guilty to false reporting and faces up to six months.

Report: Hamas, mediator meet on Shalit

JERUSALEM, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Talks between the Palestinian militant group Hamas and a German mediator to free a kidnapped Israeli soldier were under way Wednesday, sources say.

Citing "Gaza sources," the Israeli news Web site Ynetnews.com reported Hamas officials holding abducted soldier Gilad Shalit began meetings with the mediator, who reportedly was to relay Israel's response to a prisoner exchange deal proposed by his captors.

The Web site quoted its sources as saying Hamas probably wouldn't give its final answer after only one round of talks. Any final decision, they said, would require necessitate more meetings, possibly involving its leadership in Syria.

Ynetnews.com reported al-Hayat, an Arabic-language newspaper based in London, reported Sunday that Israel has vetoed seven names on the proposed prisoners exchange list, quoting unnamed Western diplomatic sources as saying 443 of the 450 prisoners demanded by Hamas have been agreed upon.

Shalit, 23, was captured June 25, 2006, by Palestinian militants who staged a cross-border raid into Israel and has been held as a prisoner by Hamas in the Gaza Strip since then.

Trail of lawsuits follows Salahis

WARRENTON, Va., Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Tareq and Michaele Salahi, the couple who crashed a state dinner at the White House, are involved in more than 30 lawsuits as defendants, court papers show.

The Salahis are also plaintiffs in numerous suits in Virginia and Maryland, The Washington Post reported. When they have been sued by unpaid suppliers and by people who say they were overcharged for weddings at their Oasis vineyard, they have often filed countersuits.

"Every courthouse clerk in the vicinity recognizes the Salahi name," Mark Simons, a process server, told the Post.

The White House apparently realized the Salahis had gatecrashed the dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when a picture of them with President Obama was posted on Michaele Salahi's Facebook page.

The trail of legal actions suggests a couple with a desire to be rich and famous, or to appear so.

"They had an addiction to a lifestyle they couldn't afford," said Cammie Copps Fuller, a florist in Jeffersonton, Va., who said she had to sue to get paid some of what she was owed for the flowers she supplied for the Salahis' wedding. "Karma -- call it what you will -- caught up to them."

Schwarzenegger considers massive cuts

SACRAMENTO, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is planning massive budget cuts if California is unable to secure $8 billion in federal aid, sources close to the governor said.

State officials and lobbyists said Schwarzenegger is considering slashing or even canceling the state's welfare program, CalWORKS, and In-Home Health Care Services, which caters to the disabled and elderly, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

The governor is also set to cancel two tax breaks for corporations to help close a budget gap of more than $20 billion, the newspaper said.

State workers can expect more cuts, as well. California has already put furloughs of threes day per month in place for state workers, dropping their incomes by 14 percent.

California has already closed a $60 billion budget gap caused by a recession-oriented plunge in tax revenues.

Advocates for the poor said those families are already struggling.

"We have an incredibly high unemployment rate, and we can't afford to cut these programs any more," said California Partnership Director Nancy Berlin.

Jean Ross, executive director of the California Budget Project, said, "absent additional assistance, we could see state governments prolonging the economic downturn by continuing to cut their budgets."

Five killed in Iraq attacks

BAGHDAD, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Two Baghdad attacks Wednesday killed five Iraqis, including four policemen, police sources said.

The first attack came at a security checkpoint in Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad, where gunmen opened fire, killing four police officers, the Kuwaiti news agency KUNA reported, citing police sources.

The second incident happened at al-Khathmeyah, north of Baghdad, where a civilian was killed and three others hurt when a booby-trapped car exploded, the sources told KUNA.