RIO DE JANEIRO

Murders more than double during strike by police

Murder rates in the northeastern city of Salvador have more than doubled since the start of a police strike, media reports said Sunday, although they added that the situation in Brazil’s third most populous city appears to be improving.

Salvador’s A Tarde daily reported that 78 people have been murdered in and around Bahia state’s capital city since Wednesday, when about a third of state police officers walked off the job, demanding pay raises and bonuses. Five people were killed early Sunday, including a 13-year-old girl, the report said.

The government news service Agencia Brasil has said the number of killings during the strike was more than double the number in the same period last year.

SABANA DE LA MAR, Dominican Republic

At least 17 die, 13 rescued after migrant boat capsizes

Rescuers have recovered 17 bodies and pulled 13 survivors from white-capped waters off this coastal town after an overloaded boat carrying migrants from the Dominican Republic capsized, officials said Sunday.

Luis Castro, intelligence director of the Dominican Navy, said the bodies of 12 men and five women were found in choppy waters. The suspected captain of the smuggler’s boat has been detained and was being questioned by investigators, he said.

The number of the dead is expected to go up as Dominican rescuers in two army boats and a firefighter’s vessel were joined by numerous fishermen in searching for at least 40 more migrants pitched overboard early Saturday when the boat heading for Puerto Rico capsized.

Survivors said there were no children aboard.

HOPE MILLS, N.C.

Stun gun used on woman blocking drive-through

North Carolina authorities say they used a stun gun on a woman driver who blocked a McDonald’s drive-through for 20 minutes after employees refused to serve her because she cut in line.

Authorities say Evangeline Lucca, 37, bypassed the order screen and line and pulled directly up to the pick-up window Friday.

A sheriff’s spokeswoman said the woman had her 3-year-old daughter in the car when she became confrontational with workers before deputies arrived.

Lucca was subsequently shocked by deputies and charged with second-degree trespass.

— From news service reports