Nation and World Briefly

Hunting officials consider season for timber wolves

MADISON, Wis. — Outdoorsmen will be asked this spring whether the state should set a hunting season for timber wolves, whose numbers are rebounding here even though the species is endangered in most other states. As many as 575 timber wolves roam the north woods and the population is growing about 12 percent annually, the state Department of Natural Resources estimates. The state’s management strategy calls for hunting if the population exceeds 350 animals. The state now allows landowners to trap problem wolves and shoot them if they’re in the act of attacking a pet or livestock. In 2007, three wolves were shot and 37 trapped and euthanized, the DNR says.

Kansas: Grenade found in bag

A regional airport was evacuated and locked down for three hours because an inactive hand grenade was found in a traveler’s carry-on bag. The grenade, which had been emptied of explosive and disarmed so it could be used for decoration or display, was found Tuesday by security screeners at Hays Regional Airport. Airport officials said they believe the traveler, who was later allowed to board a flight, had put the grenade in the bag by accident.

Montana: Skiers may be missing

Authorities said Wednesday they had been unable to confirm reports that two more skiers were buried by a deadly avalanche and they were reassessing whether a search should resume. The bodies of two backcountry skiers were recovered a short time after the slide on Sunday, but authorities have not found any sign of other possible victims. A pair of snowmobilers who witnessed the avalanche have maintained that two other skiers also were caught by the snow slide. The witnesses were taken back to the scene on Wednesday.

Georgia: Shooting kills 2 officers

Two off-duty police officers were killed early Wednesday in an apparent ambush at an apartment complex in what residents described as a high-crime neighborhood, police said. Police arrested a 32-year-old man and charged him with murder, a DeKalb County police spokesman said. Authorities were still looking for other suspects, he said. DeKalb County officers Ricky Bryant Jr., 26, and Eric Barker, 33, were working as security guards at the complex and investigating a suspicious person there when shots rang out, the police chief said.

Louisiana: DNA test frees inmate

A man held 26 years behind bars for rape has been released after DNA evidence proved he was falsely convicted. Rickey Johnson, 52, was convicted of the 1982 rape after the victim identified him as her attacker. He spent most of those years in the state penitentiary at Angola, until DNA evidence cleared him and implicated another man. Johnson was released Monday and appeared Tuesday at a news conference in Baton Rouge, where he said he doesn’t hold a grudge. “It ain’t going to do no good, being angry,” he said.

Botswana: Lethal tuberculosis

Health authorities on Wednesday reported their first known cases of virtually untreatable tuberculosis, a highly contagious strain first detected in the region in South Africa. The Bot­swana health ministry said there were two cases of so-called extensively drug resistant tuberculosis, or XDR-TB, as well as 100 cases of the slightly more manageable multi-drug resistant TB, or MDR-TB. Although XDR-TB has been reported in other parts of the world, especially former Soviet republics, it is particularly lethal in southern Africa, where AIDS incidence is high, because it combines with AIDS to kill.

Cameroon: Gays get six months

Three men convicted of homosexuality — a crime in Cameroon — were sentenced to six months’ hard labor, their lawyer said Wednesday. Lazare Baeeg, Emmanuel Balep and Tony Dikongue were arrested last August and have already spent nearly six months in detention in the port city of Douala, their lawyer said. In Cameroon and several other African nations, homosexuality is a crime. Conviction carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a fine of up to $450. The lawyer said she would appeal the convictions and sentences.

Germany: Nuclear suspect held

Authorities have arrested a German man of Iranian descent on suspicion of attempting to export materials “relevant to nuclear technology” to Iran, the federal prosecutor’s office said Wednesday. The 52-year-old, identified only as Dr. Ahmad R., was arrested Tuesday in Berlin, the prosecutor said in a statement. He is being held on charges of attempting to break German export laws for allegedly trying to provide Iran with the materials between August and December 2007.

Peru: Dispute over sea boundary

Peru asked the International Court of Justice on Wednesday to set a sea boundary it hopes will run through waters claimed by Chile, inflaming a diplomatic dispute with its neighbor. Peru’s action, filed before the world court at The Hague in the Netherlands, drew an immediate denunciation from Chile’s foreign minister, who said the areas claimed by Peru “are unquestionably under Chilean sovereignty and jurisdiction.” Chile says the border was set by treaties with Peru in 1952 and 1954. Peru argues the agreements dealt with fishing rights, not borders.

From Herald news services