International News brief

Michael Jackson’s death was a homicide caused primarily by the powerful anesthetic propofol and another sedative, the coroner announced Friday in a highly anticipated ruling that increases the likelihood of charges against the pop star’s personal doctor.

The Los Angeles County coroner’s office determined the cause of death was “acute propofol intoxication.” Other sedatives contributed to the death, most notably lorazepam, sold under the brand name Ativan. Additional drugs detected in Jackson’s system were midazolam, diazepam, lidocaine and ephedrine.

Jackson, 50, died June 25 at his rented Los Angeles mansion. Dr. Conrad Murray, the Las Vegas cardiologist who was the pop star’s personal physician, told police he gave Jackson propofol that morning after a series of sedatives failed to help Jackson sleep.

HARRISBURG

Rite Aid founder dies

Alex Grass, a Scranton native who founded Rite Aid Corp. and built it into one of the nation’s largest drugstore chains, has died of lung cancer.

Grass, 82, died Thursday night at his Harrisburg home after a decade-long battle with the disease, his daughter, Elizabeth Grass Weese of Baltimore, said Friday.

Grass also was a philanthropist who contributed to civic, health and educational organizations.

Educated as a lawyer, Grass’ business career took off after he bought a small health and beauty aids store, the Thrif D Discount Center, in Scranton in 1962. He had expanded the business to 50 stores and renamed it by the time it went public in a $25-a-share stock offering in 1968.

By the time he stepped down as the company’s chairman and chief executive officer in 1995, Rite Aid was the nation’s largest drugstore chain.

BLACKSBURG, Va.

Two Va. Tech students dead

Two Virginia Tech University students were found slain Thursday at a Jefferson National Forest campground that is a popular hangout for students, authorities said.

The latest killings are hitting a campus still reeling from the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history and the beheading of a student earlier this year. The bodies of David Lee Metzler, 19, of Lynchburg and Heidi Lynn Childs, 18, of Forest, Va. were found by a passerby, Montgomery County Sheriff Lt. Brian Wright said. Both appear to have been shot, he said.

KABUL

August deadliest for troops

An American service member died Friday when his vehicle struck a bomb in eastern Afghanistan, making August the deadliest month for U.S. forces in the nearly eight-year war.

The death brought to 45 the number of U.S. service members killed this month in the Afghan war — one more than the previous monthly record, set in July.

The grim milestone comes as the top U.S. commander prepares to submit his assessment of the conflict — a report expected to trigger intense debate on the Obama administration’s strategy in an increasingly unpopular war.

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