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(CNN) — One person was killed and four others were critically injured Saturday when a truck carrying fireworks on North Carolina’s Outer Banks exploded, officials said. Smoke from the explosion of a truck carrying fireworks rises over Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, Saturday.
Jamie Tunnell, Hyde County spokeswoman, said the fireworks were to be used for the annual Fourth of July show on Ocracoke Island, and the five people were members of a crew involved in setting up the display. The truck exploded at the Ocracoke Island docks. Emergency crews and firefighters arrived. Tunnell said two volunteer firefighters were being treated for smoke inhalation and exhaustion. (Read the full post about ‘1 killed in fireworks truck blast in North Carolina’…)

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(CNN) — Serena Williams has avenged last year’s Wimbledon final defeat by sister Venus to claim the grass-court major for the third time. Serena Williams claimed her 11th Grand Slam title with her third victory at Wimbledon.
The 27-year-old, who also beat her older sibling in winning in 2002 and 2003, triumphed 7-6 (7-3) -2 with a powerful display on Center Court on Saturday to celebrate American Independence Day. Defending champion Venus, who was seeking her sixth Wimbledon title, matched her sister for intensity in the opening set but fell away badly after losing the tie-break. She saved four match-points against her own serve in the final game before finally capitulating. (Read the full post about ‘Serena eclipses Venus in Wimbledon final’…)

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(CNN) — Alaskan Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, who will succeed Gov. Sarah Palin after she leaves office this month, called Palin Alaska’s greatest gift to the United States on Saturday. Gov. Sarah Palin is putting “Alaska’s interest first,” by stepping down, Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell said Saturday.
"I was very surprised at first," he said of Palin’s decision to resign, which he said she told him Wednesday. "But then as she began to explain why she was doing it, I began to see it was Sarah Palin, once again, moving to put Alaska’s interest first," Parnell told CNN. Palin, a Republican and John McCain’s vice presidential running mate last year, said Friday she will step down as Alaska’s chief executive by the end of the month and would not run for a second gubernatorial term in 2010. (Read the full post about ‘Successor: Palin Alaska’s greatest gift to U.S.’…)

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If Sarah Palin truly does plan to stay in politics, her resignation speech should have been a memorable philosophical statement akin to Ronald Reagan’s speech on behalf of Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential campaign. The Gipper’s speech was an eloquent and enduring summation of his political philosophy and while it did little to help his candidate, it catapulted him onto the national political stage and laid out his governing vision. It was known among his staff simply as "the speech" and he would give variations of it for the rest of his career.

If Palin’s speech proves memorable, it will be in the way that Richard Nixon’s 1962 "You won’t have Nixon to kick around any more" speech endures.

(Read the full post about ‘Sarah Palin Quitting Shows She’s No Ronald Reagan’…)

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(CNN) — Among the entertainers who have donated their energies to the USO in recent years are Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, Scarlett Johansson, Kid Rock, Queensryche, Toby Keith, Lewis Black and Robin Williams. Stephen Colbert’s trip to Iraq, facilitated by the USO, was six months in the planning.
But when the USO conducts a public opinion survey asking people who they think of when the military service organization is mentioned, one name always comes up. "The first thing out of their mouths is ‘Bob Hope,’ " said Mark Phillips, the USO’s vice president for communications, with an audible shrug. (Read the full post about ‘USO: We’ve moved beyond Bob Hope’…)

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SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) — North Korea fired several short-range missiles toward the Sea of Japan on Saturday, an act that the U.S. watched closely and South Korea called provocative. N. Korean army soldiers, back, look at a S. Korean soldier, center, in the demilitarized zone in June.
Pyongyang fired seven short-range missiles in less than seven hours, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said. The missiles were apparently Scud-type, estimated to have a range of about 500 kilometers (310 miles), according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency. South Korean intelligence estimates that North Korea has about 700 such missiles in its arsenal. Pyongyang test-fired four such missiles off the east coast Thursday, Yonhap reported. (Read the full post about ‘North Korea test-fires 7 missiles, says Seoul’…)

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(CNN) — Yemenia Airways is canceling all its flights between Yemen and the Comoros Islands after this week’s crash on the same route, the airline said Saturday. Bahia Bakari holds her father’s hand as she lies on a stretcher in a plane after landing in France.
One more flight between Sanaa and Moroni is scheduled for Sunday, but all flights on the route are canceled after that, Yemenia said. A Yemenia Airways Airbus 310 went down early Tuesday, carrying 142 passengers and 11 crew members. It originated in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and went down just miles from Comoros’ capital, Moroni. One person, 13-year-old French girl Bahia Basari, survived for hours in the Indian Ocean clinging to the debris of the downed plane. (Read the full post about ‘Yemen airline cancels route after crash’…)

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TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (CNN) — The head of the Organization of American States said Friday he has found no willingness among leaders of Honduras’ interim government to return President Jose Manuel Zelaya to power. OAS Secretary General Jose Insulza doubts Honduras’ new leaders will restore ousted President Jose Zelaya.
"They have, for the moment, no intention of reversing the situation," Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza told reporters. He said he had reached that conclusion after speaking Friday with members of the Supreme Court, among others. Insulza also rejected assertions by the interim government that the change in leadership was not really a coup d’etat. (Read the full post about ‘New Honduras leaders reject Zelaya’s return’…)

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) — Fans continued to register by the thousands early Saturday, hoping to be among the 8,750 people who will be randomly picked to attend the memorial service for singer Michael Jackson next week. Michael Jackson’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is surrounded by items from fans.
By 5:30 p.m. PT (9:30 p.m. ET) Friday, seven hours since the lottery’s announcement, more than half a million people had registered to snag a pair of tickets to the ceremony at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, according to Jackson family spokesman Ken Sunshine. The overwhelming response prompted organizers to open up the lottery to non-U.S. (Read the full post about ‘Jackson fans face long odds for tickets’…)

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) — While authorities do not yet know what killed Michael Jackson, the possibility that anesthetics — particularly the drug Diprivan — might be involved continues to swell with each new revelation. Propofol induces a coma, not sleep, an anesthesiologist told CNN.
On Friday, The Associated Press quoted an unnamed law enforcement source saying investigators found Diprivan in Jackson’s Holmby Hills home. A nutritionist, Cherilyn Lee, said earlier in the week that Jackson pleaded for the drug despite being told of its harmful effects. Sources close to Jackson told CNN’s Dr. (Read the full post about ‘Diprivan risk well-known to doctors’…)

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