Nation, world briefly — Bomber kills 12 in Afghanistan
Published 11:36 pm Tuesday, December 4, 2007
A suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a minibus full of Afghan soldiers south of Kabul today, killing at least 12 people, both soldiers and civilians, officials and witnesses said. The blast was third suicide attack in the city in the last eight days. Also, U.S. and Afghan commanders said Tuesday that the two countries plan to expand the Afghan army by up to 12,000 soldiers and accelerate shipments of tens of thousands of U.S. M-16 rifles, armored Humvees and other weaponry by the spring to counter a growing threat from Taliban insurgents and al-Qaida fighters.
Cuba: Detainee suicide attempt
Despite sweeping measures to prevent suicides among the 305 prisoners at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, a detainee slashed his throat with a sharpened fingernail recently and could have bled to death if guards hadn’t rushed to his aid, Navy officers disclosed Tuesday.
Mexico: Police official killed
Gunmen shot and killed a deputy police chief inside his house in the Mexican border city of Tecate on Tuesday, officials said. Investigators found 45 spent bullets. The killing of Jose Soriano, 35, came a day after a U.S. Border Patrol agent found a secret tunnel that may have been used to smuggle drugs across the border from Tecate.
Vietnam: U.S. citizens held
Vietnam has arrested two American citizens for investigation of terrorism for distributing pro-democracy petitions and is holding two others on unspecified charges, the U.S. Embassy said Tuesday. Nguyen Quoc Quan was among a group of six people detained while circulating petitions produced by Viet Tan, a pro-democracy group based in California. The other American in the group was identified by Vietnamese media as Truong Leon. Vietnam’s government considers Viet Tan a terrorist group.
Bush to visit Palestinian region, Israel, sources say
WASHINGTON — President Bush will visit the Mideast next month, the White House said Tuesday, presumably in an effort to promote the new round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
White House officials declined to provide additional details, but Israeli media, quoting unidentified Israeli government sources, reported that Bush would visit Israel and the Palestinian territories.
A visit to Israel would be Bush’s first as president.
Bush threatens to veto insurer cuts
The Bush administration on Tuesday threatened to veto any legislation that cuts payments to private insurers as a way to give physicians more money when treating Medicare patients. Beginning Jan. 1, physicians face a 10 percent pay cut when treating the elderly and disabled. If that occurs, doctors warn that some in their ranks will quit seeing new Medicare patients. Earlier this year, the House passed legislation that would trim payments to insurers by $54 billion over five years.
N.Y.: Dem fundraiser indicted
A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted Norman Hsu, a top Democratic fundraiser and former fugitive accused of cheating investors of at least $20 million and using some of the money to make illegal donations to political candidates including Hillary Rodham Clinton. In the 15-count indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the government accused the 56-year-old clothing-industry entrepreneur of duping investors nationwide with a massive Ponzi scheme. The government said Hsu also violated federal campaign finance laws by making contributions to various political candidates in the names of others. Federal prosecutors said Hsu hoped his lavish campaign contributions would help draw money to his scheme by raising his public profile.
Pennsylvania: Tobacco ad lawsuit
Camel ads coupled with illustrations promoting rock music in Rolling Stone magazine violate the tobacco industry’s 9-year-old promise not to use cartoons to sell cigarettes, prosecutors in Washington and other states said Tuesday. Attorneys general in Washington, Pennsylvania and at least seven other states planned to file lawsuits against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. starting today. The section in the magazine’s November edition combines pages of Camel cigarette ads with pages of magazine-produced illustrations on the theme of independent rock music.
Louisiana: ‘Jena Six’ teen pleads
A black teenager whose prosecution in the beating of a white classmate led to one of the largest civil rights protests in years pleaded guilty in Jena on Monday to a battery charge. Mychal Bell, 17, originally was charged as an adult with attempted murder in the beating of Justin Barker in December 2006. That charge was reduced before a jury convicted him in June of aggravated second-degree battery. An appeals court threw that verdict out in September and ordered Bell retried as a juvenile. He will receive credit for 10 months served on the 18-month-sentence plea deal.
From Herald news services
