Five soldiers, including a colonel, and a suspected drug cartel enforcer were killed in a shootout in the western state of Michoacan, which has been plagued by drug violence and is the target of a military-led anti-drug offensive. More than a dozen suspected Zetas – a group of Gulf cartel hit men that includes former soldiers – threw grenades and opened fire on the troops late Tuesday in Caracuaro, 120 miles west of Mexico City, a police spokesman said Wednesday.
Vandals dug up the grave of Hungary’s communist-era leader Janos Kadar on Wednesday and may have stolen his remains and the urn containing his wife’s ashes, police said. On a memorial to communist leaders near the tomb, someone had written: “Murderer and traitor, you cannot rest in holy ground.” Kadar was installed as Hungary’s leader after the Soviet army crushed the 1956 revolution, leaving around 2,800 Hungarians and 700 Soviet troops dead. He and his wife, Maria Tamaska, were buried together at the Kerepesi Cemetery in Budapest.
Parliament on Wednesday approved an agreement allowing the U.S. to use four Romanian military bases and station up to 3,000 troops in the former communist country. Lawmakers voted 257-1, with 29 nationalists abstaining, to approve the 10-year agreement, which was signed in December 2005 by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Russia has criticized the deployment of U.S. troops in its former sphere of influence in eastern Europe.
More than 3,000 Filipino mothers breast-fed simultaneously in day-care centers and hospitals Wednesday in a campaign to counter advertising claims that artificial baby food is better than breast milk. Breast-feeding advocates, social welfare officials and UNICEF organized the event – also hoping to set the first Guinness record for the most mothers breast-feeding at the same time in multiple locations. There already is a record for simultaneous breast-feeding in the same place. At least 3,608 mothers took part, according to an initial count on the organizers’ Web site.
From Herald news services
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
