ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Hunters were combing the snowy brush around Chignik Lake on Friday in an attempt to hunt down up to four wolves that killed a 32-year-old special education teacher in the first known fatal wolf attack in the U.S. in modern times. But the wolves were elusive, and villagers were hoping that game officials would send in a helicopter to help track the animals, the village council president said. “They’ve been looking and scouting around, and the wolves are definitely still around, but they’re smart, and they take off before you can get close to them,” he said. Candice Berner was attacked while jogging Monday evening on a road from the village to its small airstrip.
Virginia: Reid wife’s surgery
Sen. Harry Reid’s wife has undergone surgery to stabilize injuries from a broken neck she suffered in a traffic accident. A doctor at Inova Fairfax Hospital said the surgery Friday was successful in that Reid’s wife, Landra, is not at risk of paralysis. She said the next steps for Landra Reid will be to get her up and walking in the next few days and to make sure her pain is under control. Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, spent much of Friday at the hospital while his wife underwent surgery.
D.C.: Internet crime report
The cost of Internet fraud doubled in 2009 to about $560 million, the FBI said Friday. The most common type of frauds reported were scams from people falsely claiming to be from the FBI. Individual complaints of Internet scams grew more than 20 percent last year, according to a report issued by the FBI in partnership with a private fraud-fighting group, the Internet Crime Complaint Center. The amounts taken by frauds ranged from less than $30 to more than $100,000, officials said.
Connecticut: Hunger striker
A judge has ruled that state prison officials may continue force-feeding a British inmate who began a hunger strike in September 2007 over claims he was convicted on a fabricated sexual assault charge. William Coleman, who is serving an eight-year sentence for rape, said he began his hunger strike to protest against what he considers a corrupt judicial system. The state began force-feeding him in September 2008 after he stopped accepting fluids, but he argued that the feedings violate his right of free speech.
Britain: Cabin crew strike
British Airways cabin crew announced plans Friday to strike for seven days this month, potentially disrupting thousands of travelers ahead of the Easter holidays. The walkouts — scheduled for three days from March 20 and another four days from March 27 — are the latest move in an increasingly acrimonious dispute between BA and the union representing its 13,000 cabin crew over a pay freeze and changes to working conditions. BA has been training around 1,000 workers from other departments at the airline to stand in for cabin crew in the event of a walkout.
‘Indigenous’ Britons party
A court has barred a far right, anti-immigrant political party from accepting new members until it stops discriminating against nonwhite people. The British National Party was ordered last year to scrap its whites-only membership rules to comply with race relations laws. The party voted last month to change its constitution so that black and Asian people could join, but critics said the changes were too vague. The BNP opposes immigration and claims to fight for “indigenous” Britons.
India: Aircraft carrier plans
India signed five deals Friday to purchase over $7 billion in hardware and expertise from Russia, including an aircraft carrier, a fleet of jet fighters, defense and space-technology agreements and at least 12 civilian nuclear reactors. Having a working aircraft carrier — India’s only half-century-old British-built carrier, the Viraat, rarely leaves port — should allow India to expand its presence in the Indian Ocean. The Russian carrier Admiral Gorshkov is slated for delivery in 2012 with 45 MiG-29 fighter jets.
Australia: Navy sex scandal
Officials have launched an investigation into allegations that sailors on board a navy ship were running a sex competition during an overseas deployment last year. The Defense Department said the inquiry began Friday. Three sailors from the HMAS Success were sent home last May after reports emerged that sailors were competing to have sex with the most female crew mates. The investigation will look into allegations that dollar values were assigned to each woman on board and that sailors could win extra money if they had sex with a female officer or a lesbian.
From Herald news services
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