KABUL, Afghanistan — U.S.-led coalition soldiers and Afghan forces killed about 50 militants in two days of major fighting near a Taliban-controlled town in southern Afghanistan’s poppy-growing belt, officials Saturday. Taliban forces fired rocket-propelled grenades and small arms at a combined coalition-Afghan patrol near the town of Musa Qala in Helmand province, sparking a battle that lasted several hours and involved the use of military aircraft, the coalition said. Nearly three dozen militants were killed. The battle was the second in two days near Musa Qala.
Turkey: U.S. expected to act
Turkey expects the U.S. to act against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq but will take its own measures if it sees no results in the fight, the prime minister said. Turkey has threatened to cross the Iraqi border to try to wipe out Kurdish rebel bases. The United States and Iraq oppose such unilateral action, fearing it could destabilize northern Iraq. “We have expectations mainly from the U.S. more than Iraq. We want the coalition forces — mainly the U.S. — to take a step here,” the prime minister said late Friday.
Russia: Gorbachev to lead party
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on Saturday was elected head of a new political movement founded, he said, to help bring democratic principles to Russia. The movement, called the Union of Social Democrats, is the second political grouping that Gorbachev has headed in the past three years. Gorbachev, 76, told about 200 delegates attending the founding meeting that the new movement would seek to rid the country of “extreme political forces” and help promote liberal values, news agencies reported.
Myanmar: Curfew is lifted
Myanmar lifted a curfew Saturday and ended a ban on assembly imposed during a deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protests — the latest sign the military rulers are confident they have fully crushed the largest demonstrations in two decades. The lifting of the 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew and ban on gatherings of more than five people indicates the junta believes it has stamped out the uprising that was sparked in August by public anger at a sharp rise in fuel prices.
Mexico: Eleven bodies recovered
Authorities in southern Mexico have recovered the bodies of 11 Central American migrants whose boat capsized in the Pacific Ocean. The vessel was believed to be carrying more than 20 migrants. Two people, a man and a woman from El Salvador, survived the shipwreck, Oaxaca’s state government said. The search for survivors was suspended Saturday because of heavy rain and winds.
Tropical Storm Kiko stronger
Tropical Storm Kiko strengthened off Mexico’s Pacific coastline and forecasters warned that the storm’s outer bands could kick up strong waves, winds and rains on land. Kiko was expected to become a hurricane by late Saturday, although forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center said the storm’s eye would likely move northwest, parallel to Mexico’s Pacific coast and well offshore, before heading out to sea.
D.C.: Obama assails U.S. official
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., called on the Justice Department to fire a top official over controversial comments the official made about minorities. John Tanner, chief of the voting rights section in the Justice Department’s civil rights division, told a Hispanic group in Los Angeles that “minorities don’t become elderly the way white people do. They die first. Anything that disproportionately impacts the elderly has the opposite impact on minorities — just the math is such that,” Tanner told the group. Friday, Obama wrote to acting Attorney General Peter Keisler saying that Tanner “possesses neither the character nor the judgment” to hold his job.
Hawaii: Sergeant waives hearing
An Army sergeant accused of murdering an unarmed Iraqi civilian has waived his right to a pretrial investigation hearing, the Army says. The session, known as an Article 32 hearing, for Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales had been set for Monday. The cancellation means the commander of the 25th Infantry Division, will decide whether to refer the case to trial without the evidence the hearing, similar to a civilian grand jury, would have brought forth. He will instead just refer to evidence gathered by investigators.
Puerto Rico: Pet owners sue
Pet owners whose dogs and cats were thrown to their deaths from a bridge have filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the company that took the animals away and others they claimed were involved in the killings. The $22.5 million claim was filed in federal court Friday against Puerto Rico’s public housing director, the municipality of Barceloneta, its mayor, the owner of a private animal control company and several others. The 45 plaintiffs — whose pets were snatched this month when local authorities enforced a no-pet rule in the island’s public housing — are seeking $500,000 each.
From Herald news services
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