Nation in brief: Detained passenger ‘squeaky clean’

Bangor, Maine – The former Air Force member who was detained Tuesday on a trans-Atlantic flight after allegedly claiming he had explosives in his luggage and a fake passport lives a “squeaky clean” life and has never been in trouble before, his father told the Associated Press.

Richard Stansberry said government officials told him the man who was detained after the Paris-to-Atlanta flight was diverted to Maine is his son, 26-year-old Derek Stansberry of Riverview, Fla.

The father said government officials questioned him, but he was as perplexed as they were.

“My son’s profession in the military required he live a squeaky clean life,” Richard Stansberry said.

There were 235 passengers and 13 crew aboard Delta Air Lines Flight 273. The flight landed safely just after 3:30 p.m. at Bangor International Airport.

According to U.S. officials, the man claimed to have explosives in his luggage and a fake passport. They said his passport was authentic, and there were no explosives found on board the plane.

Federal officials met the aircraft at the airport. The Transportation Security Administration said the passenger was being interviewed by law enforcement.

Oklahoma lawmakers override abortion veto

Oklamoma City – The Oklahoma Senate voted Tuesday to override Gov. Brad Henry’s veto of two abortion bills, including one that an abortion-rights group has said would be among the nation’s strictest measures against the procedure.

The narrow override votes in the Republican-controlled Senate came a day after the state House voted overwhelmingly to do the same, meaning the bills became law immediately.

The New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights quickly filed a lawsuit, however, seeking to block enforcement of one of the statutes.

It requires women to undergo an ultrasound and listen to a detailed description of the fetus before getting an abortion.

The Center for Reproductive Rights has said the ultrasound requirement intrudes upon a patient’s privacy and forces a woman to hear information that may not be relevant to her medical care.

The other abortion measure with a veto overridden by the Senate prohibits pregnant women from seeking damages if physicians withhold information or provide inaccurate information about their pregnancy.