World/Nation Briefs Aug. 22, 2010
Officials: US drones kill 6 in northwest Pakistan
MIR ALI, Pakistan - Suspected U.S. missiles fired from an unmanned drone killed six militants Saturday in a Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said.Missiles struck two vehicles in Anghar Kala village near Miran Shah in North Waziristan - the second such attack since massive floods hit Pakistan in late July. The officials said some of the dead militants may be foreigners.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information to the media.The tribal region is a haven for various Islamist militant groups. The main organization operating there is the Haqqani network, which focuses on attacking U.S. and NATO troops across border in Afghanistan.
Pakistan's leadership has raised concerns the insurgents might exploit instability and chaos caused by the massive flooding, the country's worst-ever natural disaster. The U.S. has tried to improve its public image in Pakistan by sending significant flood aid, though Saturday's airstrike shows it is not willing to abandon the widely unpopular drone attacks.The U.S. rarely discusses the covert, CIA-run missile campaign, but officials have said in the past it has proven a valuable tool in the battle against al-Qaida and Taliban fighters sheltering in Pakistan's tribal areas. Pakistani officials publicly condemn the airstrikes, but it is believed they have given tacit approval.
Separately, a bomb exploded at a checkpoint jointly manned by pro-government tribesmen and police in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, killing six people, government official Javed Khan said.The attack happened in Mohmand, a tribal region 45 miles northwest of the main city of Peshawar. The dead included a policeman, a passer-by and four members of a peace committee set up to check militant movements, he said.
Gov't: 23K workers affected by Gulf oil drill ban WASHINGTON - Government documents show that more than 23,000 workers are affected by the moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
According a memo last month from Michael Bromwich, the nation's top drilling regulator, the six-month suspension is directly putting 9,450 people out of work. The memo also says the ban indirectly affects nearly 14,000 other jobs.The moratorium was put in place after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded April 20, killing 11 people. Millions of gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf after the explosion.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has halted deepwater drilling until Nov. 30, saying the BP spill showed the industry wasn't prepared for a massive underwater blowout.Bear who mauled caretaker is put to death in Ohio
COLUMBUS, Ohio - A bear that mauled to death a caretaker was euthanized Saturday at the request of the family of the victim, whose father said he had told his son to leave the job.The bear attacked Brent Kandra, 24, when he opened its cage Thursday for a routine feeding at the home of a man who kept a menagerie of wolves, tigers and bears on the property southwest of Cleveland.
The owner, Sam Mazzola, who has drawn criticism from animal rights activists for letting people wrestle with one of his bears, had said Kandra's family would decide the bear's fate.Kandra's father, John, said he and his ex-wife, Deirdre Herbert, needed the bear to die. He also said his son felt shortchanged by Mazzola when payday rolled around.
After the bear was put to death by a veterinarian, John Kandra recalled his son, a little blond boy who fished his way through childhood in the rivers of northeastern Ohio, baiting bullfrogs with a blade of grass and catching carp big enough to shame the tallest teller of fish tales.Wildfire in LA County forest 50 percent contained
VALYERMO, Calif. - A stubborn wildfire that charred 110 acres Friday and spurred some residents to evacuate homes in the Angeles National Forest kept firefighters working into the night to surround it, authorities said.Crews were slowly gaining ground on the blaze that erupted at about 3 p.m. near the town of Valyermo in northeast Los Angeles County, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Rachel Mailo said. It was 50 percent contained. Mailo says an unknown number of residents evacuated their homes voluntarily.
KCAL-TV showed horses fleeing stables as flames and a thick layer of smoke covered a wide grassy hillside in the early stages of the fire.One Forest Service firefighter broke his collarbone and was taken by helicopter to Antelope Valley Hospital, Mailo said.
More than 150 firefighters from both the Forest Service and the county fire department and three water-dropping helicopters were battling the blaze that was burning about 50 miles northeast of Los Angeles and 20 miles southeast of Palmdale.
- The Associated Press