World briefly

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Twenty new species of sharks and rays have been discovered in Indonesia in a five-year survey of catches at local fish markets, Australian researchers said Wednesday. The survey by the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, or CSIRO, represents the first in-depth look at Indonesia’s sharks and rays since Dutch scientist Pieter Bleeker described more than 1,100 fish species from 1842-60.

Pakistan: Afghan teacher beheaded

Suspected Islamic militants captured and beheaded an Afghan teacher whom they accused of being a spy for the United States, an official said Wednesday. The man’s body was found Tuesday in a large sack dumped by a road near Jandola, a town in the South Waziristan tribal district, a local security official said. A note found with the beheaded man’s body identified him as “Akhtar Usman, the one who spied for America,” the official said. The area is a stronghold for pro-Taliban militants.

Italy: Grenade mixed in with spuds

A 74-year-old woman in a town near Naples got an unwelcome surprise when she bought a sack of potatoes at a market, put them into water to peel and discovered one of them was a hand grenade apparently left over from World War II. Olga Mauriello had put the potatoes in a vat of water and had just begun peeling them Tuesday when she found the explosive, covered in dirt, police said Wednesday. The grenade was believed to have traveled with the potatoes from France.

From Herald news services