BEIRUT

Iraq stops N. Korean plane from entering its airspace

Iraq prevented a North Korean plane from entering its airspace on suspicion it was carrying weapons for Syria, prompting praise from the U.S. on Friday but also demands for a ban of Iranian aircraft with similar suspect cargo.

Iraq’s decision could potentially close a supply line for Syrian President Bashar Assad’s embattled regime, which is fighting a civil war against rebels trying to topple him.

U.S. officials have accused Baghdad of allowing Iran — like North Korea an ally of Syria — to fly weapons to Syrian forces through Iraqi airspace, a charge Iraq has denied.

“We urge the government of Iraq to take additional steps to prevent others, including Iran, from abusing its airspace by shipping arms to Syria,” U.S. State Department spokesman Michael Lavallee said, calling the move to ban the North Korean flight a “positive step.”

Syria’s conflict has reached in a bloody stalemate, with neither side able to deliver a knockout blow. Activists raised the death toll in the past 18 months to nearly 30,000.

DENVER

Plane carrying Ann Romney makes emergency landing

The charter plane ferrying Ann Romney from Omaha, Neb., to Santa Monica, Calif., on Friday was forced to make an emergency landing in Denver after the pilot reported seeing smoke in the cockpit.

The malfunction — which Romney aides said was mostly likely an electrical fire — led the pilot of the Canadair Challenger 601 aircraft to divert to Denver around 2:40 p.m. Mountain Time, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

BOSTON

Trader Joe’s peanut butter may be linked to salmonella

Massachusetts and Rhode Island health officials say a peanut butter product is being tested for a possible link to a nationwide salmonella outbreak that has sickened people in their states.

The health departments said Friday three cases have occurred in Massachusetts and one in Rhode Island. They say 29 have been reported nationwide since June 11.

The officials said the outbreak may be linked to Trader Joe’s Valencia Creamy Salted Peanut Butter Made With Sea Salt, in 16-ounce containers with “use by” dates of 5/23/2013 and 6/28/2013.

PITTSBURGH

Protests against fracking set to take place around world

More than 100 protests against the natural gas drilling process known as fracking are set to take place around the world Saturday, building on public concerns but also using an overly simplified message to spur outrage.

The GlobalFrackdown website and campaign was developed by Food & Water Watch, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit that was once part of Ralph Nader’s Public Citizen group. The campaign claims that fracking “has already damaged communities and ruined lives. It pollutes water and makes people sick.”

Scientists disagree on the risks of fracking, a process that injects large volumes of water, sand and chemicals underground to break rock apart and free the gas. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and many state regulators, however, say that fracking can be done safely.

BOSTON

‘Jesus wife’ papyrus finding not fully vetted, journal says

A Harvard University journal says it hasn’t fully verified research that purportedly shows some early Christians believed Jesus had a wife, even though Harvard’s divinity school touted the research during a publicity blitz this week.

The research centers on a fourth-century papyrus fragment containing Coptic text in which Jesus uses the words “my wife.”

The Harvard Theological Review’s co-editor Kevin Madigan said Friday that he and his co-editor had only “provisionally” committed to a January publication, pending the results of the ongoing studies.

— From news service reports