ARIZPE, Mexico
Police commander latest official killed
Assailants shot dead a police commander in a wealthy Monterrey suburb Saturday, the latest in a wave of killings of law enforcement officials across Mexico.
Mario Sanchez, 47, was killed by gunmen wielding automatic rifles after he finished a night shift in San Nicolas de los Garza, one of Mexico’s most affluent municipalities, Mexican media reported.
Gunmen linked to drug-trafficking gangs have been increasingly targeting police and soldiers as President Felipe Calderon wages an offensive against drug cartels.
ADELAIDE, Australia
Al-Qaeda supporter back in hometown
Convicted al-Qaeda supporter David Hicks landed in his hometown in a private jet today after more than five years in the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Hicks, the first terrorism suspect convicted by a U.S. military commission in Cuba, was transferred to a state prison to serve the final seven months of his sentence for aiding al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
Hicks, 31, a one-time cowboy and kangaroo skinner, made the flight with an entourage of Australian police, prison officers and his Australian lawyer. His flight was diverted through Mexico because the United States had refused him entry to American airspace, local media reported.
BEIRUT
Troops, militants in refugee-camp battle
Lebanese troops fought Palestinian militants with links to al-Qaeda in a Palestinian refugee camp in the northern city of Tripoli early today, causing casualties on both sides, security officials and witnesses said.
The clashes in the camp began shortly after police raided an apartment in Lebanon’s
second-largest city that was occupied by armed militants who resisted arrest and sparked a gun battle that spread to surrounding streets.
Witnesses said gunmen with the Fatah Islam militant group seized Lebanese army positions at the entrance to the camp, capturing military vehicles. The army then brought in reinforcements.
BUCHAREST, Romania
Voters say president shouldn’t be ousted
Romania’s president easily survived a referendum on his impeachment Saturday, according to exit polls showing a victory that he said reflected the popularity of his fight against corruption.
Three-quarters of voters said they did not want President Traian Basescu ousted, according to an exit poll by Insomar/Metro Media.
Five parties in parliament banded together last month to suspend Basescu, saying he violated the constitution by usurping the role of the prime minister and criticizing courts.
CAP-HAITIEN, Haiti
Drowned migrants buried in mass grave
The remains of dozens of Haitian migrants who died when their boat capsized off the Turks and Caicos Islands were returned to their homeland Saturday and buried in a common grave, angering relatives who were not given a chance to identify loved ones.
Family members wept as the 59 bodies – wrapped in black bags and marked “John Doe” or “Jane Doe” – were unloaded from a cargo ship. Officials said the bodies were badly decomposed.
More than 160 migrants were aboard the overcrowded sloop when it capsized May 4, flinging them into choppy, shark-inhabited waters.
