Taliban attack on coalition triggers bloody retaliation
Kandahar, Afghanistan – Taliban militants launched a rare attack on a coalition base in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing an American soldier and a Canadian one and sparking fierce U.S.-led retaliation that left 32 insurgents dead in the bloodiest fighting in months.
The attack came a day after at least 10 people were killed in two separate roadside bombings and reflected a growing intensity of militant assaults after the Taliban warned of a renewed offensive this year.
The American’s death brought to 223 the number of U.S. service members killed in and around Afghanistan since the ouster of the Taliban in 2001. Twelve Canadians have been killed in the turbulent country since 2002, according to the Canadian Press news agency.
“Over the last five or six weeks there have been various proven attacks mainly at night by the Taliban on that base, but I think it is fair to say this is the largest we have seen thus far,” British spokesman Col. Chris Vernon told reporters in Kandahar.
The battle began hours after Taliban insurgents ambushed an Afghan supply convoy as it returned to the remote forward operating base late Tuesday, killing eight Afghan soldiers, Vernon said.
NEW ORLEANS
3 indicted in taped beating by police
Two fired New Orleans police officers and one current officer were indicted Wednesday in the videotaped beating of a retired teacher in the French Quarter last fall.
The Oct. 8 beating of Robert Davis, 64, was caught on video by a television news crew covering the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The three officers were charged with battery and other offenses.
Davis, a retired elementary school teacher, said he was “a private citizen here on business returning to my home. There was no need for what happened.”
The video also shows two FBI agents joining the police in subduing Davis. Their role is being investigated by federal officials.
BIG SUR, Calif.
Condor nest signals northern Calif. return
California condors are nesting in the northern part of the state for the first time in more than 100 years, scientists said.
A condor couple was found Monday displaying nesting behavior inside a hollowed-out redwood tree in Big Sur, a mountainous coastal region south of Monterey, the Ventana Wildlife Society said Tuesday.
The last known condor egg in northern California was collected in 1905.
The male and female took turns guarding the nest every two or three days, never leaving it unattended for more than several minutes.
Scientists have worked for years to bring the condor back from the brink of extinction. Condors are among the largest birds native to North America, with a wingspan up to 9 1/2 feet.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.
3 students indicted in church burnings
A federal grand jury indicted three college students Wednesday on conspiracy and arson charges related to nine church fires that plagued rural Alabama last month.
Evidence indicates the fires started as a prank that got out of hand during a night of drinking and illegal hunting in Bibb County, south of Birmingham.
Defense attorneys have said the fires that destroyed or damaged churches in four rural counties over two days in early February were not crimes of hate.
They anticipate discussions with prosecutors that could lead to guilty pleas.
NEW DELHI
Doctor gets prison for checking sex of fetus
An Indian court sentenced a doctor to two years in prison for using ultrasound tests to determine the sex of fetuses, the first physician convicted for flouting a law designed to end an epidemic of parents aborting female fetuses, officials said Wednesday.
Radiologist Anil Sabsani told a pregnant undercover investigator that she was carrying a female fetus, but it could be “taken care of,” officials said.
Indian families often see girls as burdens, and gender tests and abortions have led to a skewed ratio of males to females.
Female children frequently require large dowries – cash and gifts given to the groom’s relatives by a bride’s family – and often receive medical care and education after male children.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark
Mermaid statue may move to halt vandals
This city’s famous Little Mermaid statue may be moved out of the reach of vandals and tourists, a city official said Wednesday.
The bronze sculpture based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale of the same name may be relocated a few yards offshore, said Jon Pape, a spokesman for the city’s roads and parks department. A decision will be made later this year, he said.
The 5-foot-high statue by Danish sculptor Edvard Eriksen has been sitting on a rock at the edge of the harbor since 1913.
It draws about 1 million visitors a year and is occasionally targeted by vandals.
BANGKOK, Thailand
Premier’s foes clog busy shopping district
Tens of thousands of protesters seeking the ouster of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra descended on Bangkok’s busiest shopping district Wednesday, disrupting business and snarling traffic in the heart of the capital.
Thaksin’s opponents accuse him of corruption, abuse of power and electoral fraud.
As many as 40,000 demonstrators camped on the street outside the posh Siam Paragon shopping mall, which was closed in anticipation of the protest, said Col. Pinit Maneerat, spokesman for the Metropolitan Police.
