Monsanto World: Japan and South Korea suspended imports of some American wheat after the discovery in an Oregon field of a genetically engineered strain that was never approved for sale. The wheat is a variety designed to be resistant to Roundup weed killer but Monsanto gave up on it in 2004. Japan, Mexico and Spain are major importers of American wheat. The European Union said that if any of the engineered wheat is found in shipments it will not be sold.

Civil War: The Syrian government is being reinforced by fighters from Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant organization, in the battle to control the border city of Qusayr. The government appears to be winning. Foreign nationals have also joined the rebels. American Nicole Mansfeld, 33, from Flint, Mich. was killed fighting on the side of the rebels.

National: A letter similar to ricin-laced letters sent to NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg was intercepted by the White House mail office. The Secret Service says the letter bears the same handwriting and Louisiana postmark as the Bloomberg letters.  

World: Unemployment in the Eurozone is at a record 12.2%.

• Not drugs, not guns. Venezuelan police seized 2500 rolls of toilet paper from a warehouse storing scarce goods. The socialist country has been suffering a toilet paper shortage. Also seized; diapers and fruit juice.
• A train in India hit and killed four elephants nearly 400 miles north of Calcutta. The forest minister blamed the train’s engineer for not being careful in an area where elephants are present. Accidents like this are not uncommon. Five elephants were killed by a train last December.  

Knaidel: Thirteen-year-old Arvind Mahankali of Bayside Hills, NY spelled that word to win the National Spelling Bee last night. It’s a German-Yiddish word meaning “a small amount of leavened dough.”

The Obit Page: Don Oliver, a stalwart correspondent for NBC in the prime of network news, died at age 76. Oliver covered Vietnam, the civil rights movement and the American west in his 25 years at NBC.

• Father Andrew Greeley, a Roman Catholic priest who was a prolific writer, novelist and critic, died in his sleep in Chicago at 86. Greeley was a lively wit with eyes like cracked ice. He defended many traditional Catholic teachings but also challenged the church to get with it, speaking up about sexual abuse and birth control. He once called for the retirement of “a considerable number of mitered birdbrains” to save American Catholicism.

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