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Last appearance before royal wedding Kate Middleton reacts to the crowd Monday at Witton County Park, Darwen, England. Prince William and fiancee Middleton visited northwest England on to support local youth charities. It was the last trip in their pre-wedding tour of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
AP PHOTO
DALLAS, Texas
Heat, wind drive wildfires
Out-of-control wildfires in Texas have scorched nearly 400 square miles and destroyed dozens of homes as hot, windy conditions fuel the blazes.
One fast-moving wildfire in West Texas had spread to more than 60,000 acres Sunday in Jeff Davis County and destroyed about 40 homes in Fort Davis before it raged north and east.
“It was unbelievable, just horrific. There were horses on fire, buildings on fire, houses on fire,” said Bob Dillard, a former Jeff Davis county judge and editor of the weekly Jeff Davis County Mountain Dispatch.
PARIS
Ban on face veils begins
The world’s first ban on Islamic face veils took effect Monday in France, meaning that women may bare their breasts in Cannes but not cover their faces on the Champs-Elysees.
Two veiled women were hauled off from a Paris protest within hours of the new ban. Their unauthorized demonstration, on the cobblestone square facing Notre Dame Cathedral, was rich with both the symbolism of France’s medieval history and its modern spirit of defiance.
While some see encroaching Islamophobia in the new ban, President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government defended it as a rampart protecting France’s identity against inequality and extremism. Police grumbled that it will be hard to enforce.
RALEIGH, N.C.
Papal jewelry up for bid
In the unlikely location of a North Carolina jewelry store near the beach, a lavishly jeweled cross and a ring once owned by Pope Paul VI sit under lock and key, awaiting transfer to an even less familiar venue for symbols of Roman Catholic authority: an eBay auction.
The items have turned up at a Wilmington store owned by a Southern Baptist with a flair for self-promotion. It’s the latest stop on a strange journey involving luminaries ranging from UN Secretary General U Thant to Evel Knievel, and which began with Paul VI’s novel decision to allow some of his jewelry to be sold to raise money for charity.
The Vatican confirmed that the items are the “personal” ring and pectoral cross of Paul VI. Each pope’s official ring is smashed with a hammer when he dies.
MAPLETON, Iowa
Warning helps save lives
Authorities say the 15 minutes of warning given to residents of a small Iowa town were key to preventing any deaths or serious injuries when a tornado destroyed more than half the community.
The storm barreled through Mapleton on Saturday night with winds of more than 130 mph. But the worst injury was a mere broken leg.
Sheriff Jeff Pratt says he and his deputies, along with trained storm spotters, tracked the twister across the countryside and notified communities in its path to blow their warning sirens earlier than usual. That let people scramble into basements or seek other shelter.
About 100 homes were destroyed.
On Monday, volunteers began cleaning up.