Tornado destroys homes in Chicago

ILLINOIS - A tornado destroyed several homes near Chicago on Monday, weather and rescue officials said, injuring some people and trapping others.

Emergency responders in the small town of Coal City said the tornado also caused a highway to be closed, and cut power links to thousands of homes. At least one person was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

REUTERS

Forced landing because of nut rage

LONDON - A plane travelling from Rome to Chicago was forced to make an unscheduled landing in Belfast after a passenger angrily demanded to be served more nuts, reported The Guardian on Monday.

The United Airlines flight landed at Northern Ireland's airport after dumping 50,000 litres of fuel last Saturday.

Jeremiah Mathis Thede, 42, who holds dual Italian and American citizenship, was charged in court on Monday with endangering the safety of an aircraft, disruptive behaviour and common assault of a flight attendant. The pilot reportedly became concerned by his increasingly erratic behaviour.

'Smart' insulin patch for diabetics?

MIAMI - An experimental patch that could automatically deliver insulin doses to diabetic patients has been successfully tested on lab animals, researchers said.

If trials on humans are successful, the patch could be a less painful alternative to insulin injections. Researchers at the University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University called it "the first smart insulin patch that can detect increases in blood sugar levels and secrete doses of insulin into the bloodstream whenever needed".

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE