KENOSHA, Wis.

Beef patties being recalled because of gasket material

Kenosha Beef International Ltd. is recalling nearly 19 tons of frozen bacon-cheeseburger patties because they may contain pieces of gasket material.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the recall Thursday on behalf of the Wisconsin company.

The USDA says the products being recalled are 2-pound cartons containing six patties of Sam’s Choice Fireside Gourmet Black Angus Beef Patties Bacon and Aged Cheddar. They were distributed in Indiana, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Wisconsin.

The packages have the establishment number “EST425B” and “best if used by” date code of 120812B.

The USDA says Kenosha Beef alerted it to the problem after receiving a consumer complaint.

LITCHFIELD, Ill.

Discount charter bus crash kills one, injures at least 24

A packed double-decker Megabus blew a tire and slammed into an Illinois interstate bridge support pillar Thursday, hurtling screaming passengers from their seats and leaving at least one person dead and more than two dozen injured, officials said.

Illinois State Police Trooper Doug Francis confirmed one person died in the afternoon wreck of the discount charter bus, which was traveling between Chicago and Kansas City. He didn’t immediately have other details about the death.

At least four people were flown by helicopter to a trauma center.

McLEAN, Va.

ACLU sues over insider trading law for federal workers

A new law designed to stop insider trading by members of Congress and nearly 30,000 federal workers is facing a constitutional challenge from the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups.

The ACLU filed a lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Md. It says the law’s requirement that federal workers disclose financial transactions greater than $1,000 is an unconstitutional invasion of privacy and subjects those workers to a real fear of identity theft.

The affected workers already have to file financial disclosures with the Office of Government Ethics. As a practical matter, though, those forms are rarely inspected by the public. According to the lawsuit, the office received only 79 requests for access to those disclosure forms in 2008, with an additional 127 requests submitted to the various executive agencies themselves. Also, the people asking to inspect those reports must identify themselves.

LONDON

Putin suggests going easy on jailed punk rockers

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Thursday criticized the feminist punk rockers facing trial for performing a “punk prayer” against him at Moscow’s main cathedral, but said that a punishment for them shouldn’t be too severe.

Putin’s comments to Russian reporters on a visit to the London Olympics were the leader’s first reaction to the trial of three members of the Pussy Riot band, whose imprisonment has drawn international outrage. It may signal that the Kremlin has opted for a milder punishment for the women than the seven years they could face.

Asked about the case, Putin said that the stunt “was no good” and would have entailed a much tougher punishment for its participants if they had performed it at a holy site in Israel or even death if they had done it at some Muslim site in Russia’s North Caucasus region.

“If they went to desecrate some Islamic holy site, we wouldn’t even have had time to take them into custody,” he said before suggesting that they had already learned their lessons and mustn’t face an especially tough punishment.

Courts in Russia closely heed signals from the government, and Putin’s statement sounded like a clear sign that the verdict for the rockers might be milder than anticipated.

CAIRO

Islamist president swears in first new government

Egypt’s Islamist president swore in his first new government Thursday, led by a devout Muslim and including five members of his Muslim Brotherhood in unglamorous but ideal ministries for a group whose long-term aim is to Islamize the most populous Arab nation.

The Cabinet is a far cry from the inclusive administration that President Mohammed Morsi has repeatedly promised. No other political factions came on board to join. Women and Christians received only token representation, and figures from the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak last year were left out.

The choices seemed aimed at playing down fears that the country’s first ever government formed under the Muslim Brotherhood’s aegis will seek to impose quick and radical change. Seven members of the outgoing, military-backed government, including the foreign, finance and culture ministers, have also kept their jobs, a move by Morsi and Prime Minister Hesham Kandil that may have been designed to inspire stability.

Also keeping his post as defense minister is Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who served in the role for 20 years under Mubarak and was Egypt’s military ruler for 17 months after Muabrak’s ouster.

— From news service reports