KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – An attacker blew himself up in a failed assault on coalition forces Sunday in volatile southern Afghanistan, while two U.S. helicopters made emergency landings during combat operations, officials said.
The attempted attack against the coalition forces occurred after their convoy passed through the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar. Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanekzai said the explosives detonated when the attacker was hit by a motorcycle. The blast killed the attacker and motorcycle driver and wounded two other people, U.S. military and Afghan police officials said.
Hours earlier, the U.S. military said five American troops and an Afghan soldier suffered relatively minor injuries when two helicopters made emergency landings – one north of Kandahar, the other in Uruzgan province – during combat operations. All the injured, five U.S. soldiers and an Afghan soldier, were in stable condition, the military said.
France: Face transplant progress
The recipient of the world’s first partial face transplant was thriving medically and psychologically a week after her groundbreaking surgery in Lyon, one of her doctors said Sunday. The 38-year-old woman, whose face had been partially disfigured by a dog, appeared relatively normal after the operation and doctors were pleased with her mental state, Dr. Jean-Michel Dubernard said in a telephone interview. Doctors had been worried about the potentially negative psychological effects of receiving a section of a nose, lips and chin from someone else’s face.
China: March for democracy
Pressure mounted for Hong Kong and Beijing leaders to respond to calls for full democracy in the Chinese territory of Hong Kong as tens of thousands of protesters marched Sunday, demanding the right to choose their leaders. Organizers said the protest drew 250,000 people; police put the turnout at 63,000.
Israel: Militants fire at Israeli village
Palestinian militants fired two rockets from Gaza into an Israeli village Sunday evening, despite Israeli airstrikes earlier in the day launched in response to previous attacks. There were no serious injuries. The rockets hit Shuva, an Israeli village four miles from the Gaza fence, demonstrating a longer range than usual for the homemade rockets.
Kazakhstan: President re-elected
President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has ruled oil-rich Kazakhstan since Soviet times, was re-elected Sunday by an overwhelming majority, according to four exit polls released hours after voting ended. Election officials planned to announce preliminary results today.
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