Free Republic

WASHINGTON, May 11, 2008 – A U.S. Hellfire missile killed an insurgent near the site of a roadside-bomb attack in Baghdad’s Adhamiyah district today, U.S. military officials said. A vehicle was destroyed while another insurgent fled the scene. “Our soldiers, along with the Iraqi security forces, continue to meet with the local populace to identify these criminal elements and eliminate the threat they pose,” said Army Lt. Col. Steve Stover, a Multinational Division Baghdad and 4th Infantry Division spokesman. “We will continue to use precision fire to defend the Iraqi people and ourselves against these criminal elements.” In yesterday’s operations:...

(IsraelNN.com) Israel’s Air Force launched an air strike Thursday morning killing a Hamas terrorist involved in the kidnapping of IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit. The air strike, which was based on information from the Shabak (General Security Service) was carried out in Rafiah, along Gaza’s southern border with Sinai, as the terrorist, Nafez Mantzour, was driving with two other Hamas terrorists. The first missile missed the vehicle, according to Hamas reports, and one of Matzour’s accomplices escaped before the second struck. Mantzour was killed and one of his accomplices was wounded. The kidnapping of Gilad Shalit happened in July, 2006 at...

Mounting Evidence Shows Red Wine Antioxidant Kills CancerA natural antioxidant found in grape skins and red wine can help destroy pancreatic cancer cells. (Credit: iStockphoto) ScienceDaily (Mar. 27, 2008) — Rochester researchers showed for the first time that a natural antioxidant found in grape skins and red wine can help destroy pancreatic cancer cells by reaching to the cell's core energy source, or mitochondria, and crippling its function. The new study also showed that when the pancreatic cancer cells were doubly assaulted -- pre-treated with the antioxidant, resveratrol, and irradiated -- the combination induced a type of cell death called...

BETHLEHEM, West Bank - Israeli troops opened fire on a car in the West Bank on Wednesday, killing four Palestinian militants, Palestinian medical officials said. The violence threw doubt on prospects for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Associated Press Television News video showed medical officials loading the bodies of the men into an ambulance. The Israeli military had no immediate comment. Palestinian security officials said one of the dead was the commander of Islamic Jihad in the Bethlehem area, Mohammed Shehadeh, and two others were also members of Islamic Jihad. The fourth belonged to the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades,...

JERUSALEM, Israel – Jewish men and women from all walks of life confronted on Thursday the national pain resulting from an unprecedented terrorist attack on one of Judaism's most famous yeshivas. That night, an Israeli-Arab walked into the Mercaz Harav seminary in the Kiryat Moshe section of Jerusalem with a concealed automatic rifle. He opened fire on a group of teenage boys and young men immersed in their studies, firing an estimated 500-600 bullets in the span of 10 minutes and killing eight. An off-duty soldier later felled the gunman. Families laid the slain to rest on Friday. It was...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2008 – Coalition forces killed 13 terrorists and detained three suspects yesterday and today during operations targeting al Qaeda networks in central and northern Iraq, military officials reported. Southwest of Hawijah this morning, coalition forces targeted an alleged senior leader involved in the al Qaeda in Iraq network in Kirkuk. The suspect allegedly is responsible for facilitating finances for terrorist operations in the region and is involved in improvised-explosive-device attacks. Reports also indicate he was a close associate of Abu Harith, the senior leader of the Kirkuk terrorist network, before Harith was killed during a coalition operation...

(IsraelNN.com) IDF Special Forces killed the head of the Islamic Jihad terrorist group in Judea and Samaria Wednesday morning. The top terrorist, Walid Abeidi, was hiding out in the village of Kabatiya, south of Jenin. The IDF unit came to arrest Abeidi, but a shootout ensued as he and his men attempted to prevent the force from entering the hideout. The 44-year-old terror chief ran out of the building at a certain point, opening fire on the soldiers, who returned fire. He was hit and eliminated. Four accomplices were arrested as well. Two were wounded in gunfighting with the IDF...

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel killed a top Islamic Jihad commander in the Gaza Strip on Monday, the militant group said. An Israeli attack on a car in Gaza killed at least three Palestinian militants and wounded two bystanders, medical workers and witnesses said. An Israeli army spokeswoman said Israel had carried out an attack in Gaza but gave no other details.

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Dec. 3, 2007 – Several militants were killed during a coalition operation yesterday targeting Taliban command-and-control networks in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. Coalition forces conducted a precision-guided munitions strike targeting a senior Taliban commander believed to be involved in the March kidnapping of Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo, his interpreter and his driver. Reports indicate the individual also is responsible for a number of mortar attacks on coalition bases, as well as several improvised-explosive-device attacks. During the course of operations, coalition forces targeted a vehicle in the Musa Qaleh district containing five men, one of whom intelligence reports...

AUGUSTA, Ga. - A 22-year-old woman fatally stabbed her two young children in a convenience store bathroom Thursday, police said. A worker at Food Mart told police she saw Jeanette Michelle Hawes enter the restroom Thursday afternoon with the two children, a boy and girl, and then heard a scream, Richmond County Sheriff Ronnie Strength said. The worker called 911, and when deputies arrived they forced the door open and found Hawes on the floor, holding a steak knife and covered in the children's blood, Strength said.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2007 – A coalition airstrike killed more than 20 militants, and Iraqi security forces accompanied by coalition advisors captured 34 suspected terrorists during operations across Iraq Sept. 29, officials reported. -- A coalition aircraft fired on and killed more than 20 al Qaeda-affiliated insurgents during a battle northwest of Baghdad. The aircraft’s crew defended themselves after insurgents launched rocket-propelled grenades and small arms at the aircraft. Four enemy vehicles were destroyed during the firefight. -- Iraqi special operations troops detained a suspected al Qaeda in Iraq leader and two alleged cell members in Yusafiyah. -- Two...

9/28/2007 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- An Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon dropped precision munitions near Al Nussayyib, Iraq, Sept. 25 killing Abu Nasr al-Tunisi and two other al-Qaida Iraq operatives, according to Air Force officials. They were killed when the aircraft, assigned to U.S. Central Command Air Forces, dropped two laser-guided 500-lb joint direct attack munition guided bomb unit-12 bombs, destroying the terrorist safe house where the three were meeting. "Airpower is crucial to setting the conditions for stability in Iraq," said Lt. Gen. Gary L. North, the Combined Air Forces component commander. "Airpower overhead provides capability to the...

CINCINNATI, Aug. 24 A 10-year-old boy who said he hated snakes killed a 10-foot python at petting zoo by stomping on the reptile's head. Scott Braunstein, a reptile handler who brought the snake to the St. Bernadette Festival in Amelia, Ohio, last weekend, said he was shocked by the boy's violence, The Cincinnati Enquirer said Thursday. The snake, named Popcorn, was a non-poisonous albino Burmese python. Braunstein, who operates House of Reptiles in Dry Ridge, Ky., said the boy approached him and told him that he hated snakes. The child then raised his leg and stomped down on the snake's...

ALGIERS (AFP) - A week-long offensive by Algerian special forces in a mountainous area east of Algiers has killed between eight and 11 Islamist militants, security sources said on Saturday. The soldiers, who include paratroopers, are tracking a group of around 100 militants in the Akfadou mountains, 160 kilometres (100 miles) east of Algiers in the Kabylie region, the sources said. The inhospitable area has also been bombarded heavily by artillery and by aircraft, residents told AFP. The operation follows a raid last week on an army barracks in the Yakouren forest in the same region and a suicide bomb...

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraqi soldiers have killed a senior Al-Qaeda leader in a clash inside one of Baghdad's historic Sunni quarters, military spokesman Brigadier General Qassim Atta said Monday. "He was from Al-Qaeda, they called him the 'Governor of Adhamiyah'," Atta told AFP. "He was killed during clashes with the 11th Division's first brigade this morning, and 11 of his aides were arrested." Adhamiyah is a Sunni enclave in north Baghdad, a cluster of streets around an historic mosque surrounded by a US-built concrete security barriers and hostile Shiite districts roamed by militia fighters. Atta said the alleged Al-Qaeda chieftain...

Hamas gunmen killed five of their own combatants in an ambush on a Fatah vehicle that had been carrying Hamas detainees, Fatah officials said Wednesday. Also killed were two members of the Fatah-affiliated Preventive Security force that had been guarding the detained Hamas members, the officials said.

WASHINGTON, April 15, 2007 – Coalition forces killed and captured several extremists in Afghanistan over the past few days, U.S. military officials reported. Coalition forces detained an extremist and discovered makeshift bomb-making material in a compound in Afghanistan’s Paktika province today. The compound consisted of multiple safe houses that use natural terrain to facilitate the movement of fighters from Pakistan. The bomb-making materials were destroyed in place. No shots were fired and no one was injured during the operation, officials said. Meanwhile, Afghan National Army and coalition troops operating in Afghanistan’s Helmand province received rocket-propelled grenade and small-arms fire...

A Border Patrol agent shot and killed a man who threatened him with a softball-sized rock at the border, the agency said Tuesday. The agent fired an M-4 assault rifle at the man, who had escaped from a scuffle with another agent as he tried to run back into Mexico, said Border Patrol spokesman David Kim. The victim, whose name, nationality and immigration status were not released by U.S. authorities, was pronounced dead from one bullet wound at El Centro Regional Medical Center after the incident Monday. Kim said he did not know where the man was struck. Pablo Arnaud...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A suicide car bomber struck a police checkpoint Wednesday in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, killing at 13 people in the spiritual heartland of the militia factions led by radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. U.S. forces, meanwhile, investigated the "hard landing" of a Black Hawk helicopter north of Baghdad. Military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said the airmen were picked up by rescuers, but gave no further details. At least seven U.S. helicopters have crashed or been forced down by hostile fire in the past month, killing 28 troops and civilians. Meanwhile, Britain outlined its plan to...

Helicopter crash claims life of first 11th Signal Brigade soldier BY BILL HESSSpecialist Charlie Harris speaks Wednesday on Fort Huachuca about his friend Cpl. Victor M. Langarica, who was killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq. (Mark Levy-Herald/Review) Herald/Review FORT HUACHUCA — The 11th Signal Brigade lost its first soldier in Iraq when an Army helicopter crashed on Saturday. To the Army buddies of Cpl. Victor M. Langarica, a wheeled-vehicle mechanic with Bravo Company of the 86th Signal Battalion, the loss was akin to the death of a family member. Of those who knew the soldier, he was more...

It sounds almost too good to be true: a cheap and simple drug that kills almost all cancers by switching off their “immortality”. The drug, dichloroacetate (DCA), has already been used for years to treat rare metabolic disorders and so is known to be relatively safe. It also has no patent, meaning it could be manufactured for a fraction of the cost of newly developed drugs. Evangelos Michelakis of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, and his colleagues tested DCA on human cells cultured outside the body and found that it killed lung, breast and brain cancer cells, but...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6, 2006 -- A coalition air strike killed a terrorist near Khanaqin, Iraq, and Iraqi soldiers responded to two bombings in Baghdad today, military officials reported. The coalition aircraft was leaving a raid that targeted foreign fighter facilitators when it received small-arms fire from a vehicle, official said. Coalition forces returned fire, destroying the vehicle and killing the armed terrorist. Ground forces detained a suspected terrorist during the raid. Iraqi soldiers responded to two bombings in Baghdad today. Soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, who work with the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26, 2006 – Coalition forces conducted several operations yesterday that resulted in the deaths of 26 insurgents, and supported an Iraqi tribe under attack by al Qaeda today, military officials in Iraq announced. Al Qaeda terrorists attacked the Abu Soda tribe in Sofia today, officials reported. After establishing positive identification, coalition forces conducted air strikes and fired artillery at al Qaeda forces in support of the tribe. The insurgents attacked through a tribal area checkpoint and engaged the Abu Soda, burning homes and killing tribe members using small-arms fire and mortars. Both al Qaeda and the Abu...

Reflecting a year of cooperation with Democratic lawmakers, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger marked the end of the legislative bill-signing period Saturday, vetoing bills at a lower rate than in the first two years of his term and approving several measures he had previously rejected. The flurry of last-minute signings came as analysts said Schwarzenegger has taken more moderate public positions this year and departed from the more conservative and strident tone of last fall's special election campaign. "The signing decisions are more reminiscent of 2004 than 2005," said Tim Hodson, executive director of the Center for California Studies at California State...

Al-Qaeda chief kills Turkish hostage on film By Paul Willis (Filed: 24/09/2006) A video purporting to show the new leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq murdering a Turkish hostage has appeared on the internet. If authentic, the recording would be the first known footage of Abu Ayyoub al-Masri, a Sunni Muslim who is said to have assumed leadership of the organisation after the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in an American airstrike in June. The items were posted on Friday night with a statement identifying Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, as the executioner. Masri appears flanked by two men...

Scottish mineral water 'kills cancer cells' By Auslan Cramb, Scottish Correspondent (Filed: 13/09/2006) The water of life – or “uisge beatha” in Gaelic - is a euphemism for whisky, but another Highland drink has been shown to have a more valid claim to the title. The water, sourced from near Balmoral Castle, has been said to possess healing qualities since 1760 A mineral water taken from wells near the Queen’s Balmoral Castle can help to slow the spread of cancer, according to scientists. Tests on Deeside Mineral Water suggest that it inhibits the growth of certain cancerous cells and kills...

An Assembly committee killed legislation Thursday that would have required the California Energy Commission to analyze and rank four existing proposals to import liquefied natural gas into the state. In the absence of such a comparative statewide review, environmentalists argued, Californians will be stuck with whichever proposal wins the race to first gain a federal permit. The bill, SB426, was first proposed last year but was resurrected as lawmakers neared the end of their session because all the LNG proposals — including two off the Oxnard coast — remain stalled in the federal regulatory process. After a brief and hastily...

WASHINGTON, August 4, 2006 – Three Iraqi civilians were killed, and nine were injured yesterday when insurgents fired a mortar round at a residential area in Ubaydi, Iraq, U.S. military officials reported. The mortar round landed directly on a home. No coalition personnel were killed or injured in the attack. All nine injured Iraqi civilians were immediately medically evacuated to a nearby U.S. military medical facility. The wounded civilians’ exact condition is unknown, but four were listed as requiring “urgent surgical” medical care, officials said. Marine Corps officials said the attack was intended to strike a nearby coalition forces outpost....

WASHINGTON, July 17, 2006 – Initial reports indicate 40 Iraqi citizens were killed and 90 wounded today when terrorists stormed a market area near the Mohammed Al Amin Mosque in Mahmudiya, Iraq, military officials reported. Iraqi security forces and soldiers from Multinational Division Baghdad immediately responded to the attack. Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, responded to explosions in the area at about 9:15 a.m. The troops began taking small-arms fire from unknown assailants southwest of the mosque while they performed a cordon-and-search operation for a suspicious vehicle in the neighborhood. Meanwhile, U.S. soldiers from 1st...

WASHINGTON, July 17, 2006 – A suicide bomb attack in the Gardez district Afghanistan's of Paktia province killed five people and wounded up to 22 others, mostly innocent civilians, yesterday, military officials reported. An extremist armed with a suicide vest detonated his explosives as an Afghan National Army patrol approached. One Afghan soldier and four Afghan civilians were killed in the blast. Two Afghan soldiers and up to 20 more innocent Afghan civilians were wounded by the explosion and transported to a local hospital for treatment. Several vehicles and structures also were damaged. A coalition quick reaction force and explosive...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli warplanes killed six people in an attack early Wednesday on a Gaza City meeting of Hamas commanders, Israelis and Palestinians said, while Israel's military expanded an offensive in the region with an incursion in the southern Gaza Strip. The military said it attacked the Gaza City residence because it was a "meeting place for terrorists." It also confirmed Israeli forces were operating in southern Gaza as part of an effort to win the release of a captured soldier. With tanks and troops on the move in the south, a huge explosion destroyed the house...

Father kills 4 children, self after spousal disputeAssociated Press Posted on Wed, Jul. 05, 2006 An undated photo provided by the Gustine Police Department shows twins Alyssa Branscum, 5, left, and Taylor Branscum. The twins and their two other siblings were found dead in their Gustine, Calif., home Tuesday, July 4, 2006, officials said. The children apparently died of gunshots to the head, and their father, Trevor Branscum, 38, died of a self-inflicted wound, Mayor Jim Bonta said. Police Sgt. Vince Inaudi said the children appeared to be sleeping when they were shot. The evidence was consistent with a murder-suicide,...

WASHINGTON, July 7, 2006 – Iraqi army forces conducted an early morning raid today in eastern Baghdad, Iraqi police repelled a terrorist attack in Baghdad today, and coalition forces killed two terrorists and detained five during a raid yesterday, military officials reported. The Iraqi army raid was part of Operation Together Forward, the Iraqi government's plan to improve security conditions in Baghdad. Insurgents immediately engaged the forces, and a firefight ensued. The purpose of the raid was to capture an insurgent leader responsible for numerous deaths of Iraqi citizens, officials said. Police from 2nd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 1st National Police...

WASHINGTON, June 30, 2006 – Coalition forces in Afghanistan today killed 14 enemy fighters at a Taliban safe house and killed one enemy fighter and captured eight others in a separate raid, military officials reported. A coalition patrol in the Kamdesh district in Nuristan province tracked a band of 14 extremists traveling with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades and attacked them once they reached their safe house, destroying two buildings in the compound, officials said. Afghan National Army and coalition forces seized the compound and identified 14 dead enemy combatants. No ANA or coalition soldiers or civilians were injured in the...

WASHINGTON, June 28, 2006 – A coalition soldier was killed and three others were injured today when their vehicle struck a land mine in Afghanistan's Helmand province, and Afghan and coalition forces today killed 12 terrorists at a Taliban compound, military officials reported. The dead and wounded soldiers' uparmored vehicle struck a land mine likely left behind from 25 years of war, according to Combined Forces Command Afghanistan officials. "We sincerely regret the loss of our fellow soldier today; his sacrifice will not be forgotten," Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, commander of Combined Joint Task Force -76, said. "Our...

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2006 – Afghan National Army soldiers and coalition forces killed 10 extremists yesterday in a raid on a Taliban compound belonging to a known weapons and bomb distributor, U.S. military officials reported. No injuries to civilians were observed during the operation, which was conducted in Uruzgan province, officials said. "We will continue to intensify our pursuit of extremists hiding in southern Afghanistan," said Army Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, a Combined Joint Task Force 76 spokesman. "We call on the extremists to reconcile with the government of Afghanistan. Our efforts are to improve security, economic development and stable...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - An Israeli airstrike against suspected rocket launchers in the Gaza Strip killed one senior Palestinian militant and injured at least two Friday, the army and Palestinian officials said. Earlier in the day, Palestinian militants fired five homemade rockets into Israel, a day after the Hamas-led government offered to renew a cease-fire. Though the rockets were not fired by Hamas, they are likely to endanger prospects for a return to quiet following days of intense bloodshed. The response came after nightfall, when Israel aircraft hit a vehicle carrying a cell from the Islamic Jihad militant group....

WASHINGTON, June 15, 2006 – A bus bombing in Afghanistan killed several passengers this morning, and Operation Mountain Thrust continues in the southern portion of the country, military officials said. A bus exploded near the intersection of highways 1 and 4 in Kandahar City at about 8 a.m. today. The explosion, caused by a bomb on the bus, killed seven and injured 17. It was believed to be a deliberate attack against Afghan civilians. Afghan national security forces and coalition forces have responded by assisting with the evacuation of casualties to the Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar City. "This is a...

GAZA CITY, GAZA Strip - An Israeli airstrike Thursday killed the top Hamas enforcer in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian hospital officials and group members said. Israel has accused militant faction leader Jamal Abu Samhadana of spearheading rocket attacks on Israel and of the fatal 2003 bombing of a U.S. convoy in the Gaza Strip that killed three American security guards. Two other people were killed and seven were wounded in a strike on a Popular Resistance Committees training camp. The 43-year-old militant had been No. 2 on Israel's wanted list and had tried to avoid detection by moving stealthily, switching...

WASHINGTON, June 4, 2006 – In what was described as an accident during training, a U.S. unit fired an artillery shell June 2 that killed three Iraqi civilians, military officials in Iraq reported today. Officials also announced the capture yesterday of 19 terror suspects in eastern Baghdad. On June 2, a Task Force Band of Brothers unit fired an artillery round from a military base near Baqubah, Iraq, that landed in an inhabited area, officials said. The unit, from the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, fired a 155 mm round from a Paladin self-propelled howitzer during training,...

SHANGHAI (AP) - Tropical Storm Chanchu swept into the East China Sea Friday leaving behind a path of destruction in southern China, where it killed at least 11 people and left 27 Vietnamese fishermen missing after their boats sank in Chinese waters. Chanchu, downgraded early Thursday from a typhoon, has killed at least 50 people in Asia, including 37 last weekend in the Philippines, where it destroyed thousands of homes. There were fears the death toll could rise dramatically. Chanchu hit China Thursday, flooding scores of homes and forcing the evacuation of more than 1 million people before weakening to...

WASHINGTON, May 14, 2006 – Terrorists killed 14 Iraqi citizens and injured at least six others in an attack today in western Baghdad. In other news, coalition forces raided a terrorist safe haven near Julaybah yesterday, killing three terrorists and detaining four suspects, officials in Iraq reported today. In today's attack, two vehicles packed with explosives detonated near a Camp Victory complex checkpoint. Initial reporting indicates that the terrorists blew themselves up in a parking lot east of the coalition forces' base. Their target wasn't the compound, bur rather, Iraqis congregated in a parking lot, officials said. Those injured were...

Security Issue Kills Domestic Spying ProbeBy DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writer 12 minutes ago WASHINGTON - The government has abruptly ended an inquiry into the warrantless eavesdropping program because the National Security Agency refused to grant Justice Department lawyers the necessary security clearance to probe the matter. The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, or OPR, sent a fax to Rep. Maurice Hinchey (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y., on Wednesday saying they were closing their inquiry because without clearance their lawyers cannot examine Justice lawyers' role in the program. "We have been unable to make any meaningful progress in our...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, May 8, 2006 – A coalition air strike killed four enemy extremists and destroyed a truck and a cave complex today in the Bermel district of Afghanistan's Paktika province, military officials reported. Other insurgents may be buried in the rubble, officials said. Prior to the strike, a joint combat team of Afghan National Army and U.S. ground forces saw people loading a truck near the cave and determined they were moving rockets from a cave complex and that the activity was linked to recent rocket attacks on a nearby coalition base. Close-air support was used to...

KABUL, Afghanistan - U.S. airstrikes on a cave complex near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan on Monday killed four Taliban militants and destroyed a truck loaded with rockets, the U.S. military said. Military officials in Pakistan said that helicopters fired missiles into Pakistani territory, and officials opened an investigation into whether U.S. aircraft were involved. But Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, a U.S. military spokesman, said the strike was one or two miles inside the Afghan border and that no missiles landed inside Pakistan. A U.S. military statement said that coalition forces were in direct communication with Pakistani forces on the other...

Cattle ranchers in the Paradise Valley say shipping weights have declined since wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in 1995. They say their cattle stay close to gates instead of grazing entire pastures. Wary animals tend to eat less than relaxed animals.

An 18-year-old Singaporean student committed suicide last month because he was convinced his penis was too small, a report said on Wednesday. State Coroner Tan Boon Heng said the case highlighted the importance of sex education in schools and recommended the details be forwarded to the education ministry, the Straits Times reported. The teenager, who was not named, jumped from a building on March 3. A suicide note explained why, an investigation to determine the cause of death said. "He said it was not due to the stress of his examination, but it was more about his physical development... He...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A car bomb exploded Wednesday as worshippers left a Shiite mosque northeast of Baghdad, killing at least 20 people and injuring 32, police said. The blast occurred near the Huwaider mosque in a village near Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, police Lt. Col. Falah al-Mohammedawi said.

Avian flu kills swan in Scotland By Anil Dawar (Filed: 06/04/2006) A wild swan has been found dead from avian flu in Scotland. Preliminary tests found "highly pathogenic H5 avian flu" in a sample from the bird, the Scottish Executive said. The bird was found near the coast in an emaciated condition, about nine miles from St Andrews, in Fife. A two-mile exclusion zone was set up around Cellardyke while scientists continued to examine the bird to discover if it was carrying the H5N1 strain of the virus, which can be fatal to humans. Poultry farmers and bird owners in...

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, April 1, 2006 – A suicide car bomber attacked a combined Afghan and coalition convoy in the Maiwand district of Afghanistan's Kandahar province around noon today, slightly injuring one Afghan soldier and flattening a truck tire, military officials reported. Preliminary coalition reports indicate the attack caused no civilian injuries or deaths. The attacker was killed when the car he was driving exploded near the convoy. "The cooperation between Afghan authorities and the coalition across southern Afghanistan will not be disrupted or broken by these acts of senseless violence," said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. David Fraser, commander of...