Los Angeles  - The pilot of a home-built aircraft was killed Tuesday when a car crashed into his plane as he was trying to take off after making an emergency landing on a southern California highway, police said.

The pilot managed make an emergency landing on the busy road. As he attempted to take off, the car slammed into the plane, ejecting the pilot. He died instantaneously.

The incident occurred on Interstate 40 in San Bernadino country, said Sheriff's spokeswoman Jodi Miller.

Los Angeles  - Former Beatle John Lennon's killer was denied parole for the fifth time Tuesday, and will remain behind bars for at least two more years.

Mark David Chapman, 53, was denied parole from New York's Attica Correctional Facility because his release "would not be in the best interest of the community" parole board members said in a statement.

Lennon's widow Yoko Ono told the New York Daily News that she had personally asked parole officials to deny Chapman's request. "It's dangerous for him to come out. Not only for us, but for himself."

Los Angeles  - Nine people were killed Thursday when a van packed with as many as 18 people overturned on a quiet desert road in Arizona, police said.

The incident occurred close to the town of Florence just outside Phoenix and the occupants were believed to have been undocumented immigrants, according to the state's Department of Public Safety.

Nine survivors were rushed to area hospitals. Television pictures showed a crumpled white vehicle next to a desert road that was lined with a row of body bags.

Los Angeles  - The world's largest computer c

Los Angeles  - The Los Angeles city council has unanimously approved a ban on plastic shopping bags in stores throughout the city, hoping to reduce plastic waste by encouraging shoppers to bring their own bags in one of the capitals of American consumerism.

The ban will go into effect in 2010, unless the state imposes a mandatory 25-cent fee on shoppers requesting plastic bags. The city council passed the ban Tuesday night.

Los Angeles  - BMW is to produce 500 electric-