World / Nation Briefs September 1, 2011

U.S.: Pakistani fertilizer used in Afghan bombs

MULTAN, Pakistan - The main ingredient in most of the homemade bombs that have killed hundreds of American troops in Afghanistan is fertilizer produced by a single company in Pakistan, where the U.S. has been pushing unsuccessfully for greater regulation.

Enough calcium ammonium nitrate fertilizer for at least 140,000 bombs was legally produced last year by Pakarab Fertilizers Ltd., then smuggled by militants and their suppliers across the porous border into southern and eastern Afghanistan, according to U.S. officials.

The U.S. military says around 80 percent of Afghan bombs are made with the fertilizer, which becomes a powerful explosive when mixed with fuel oil. The rest are made from military-grade munitions like mines or shells.

The United States began talks a year and a half ago with Pakistani officials and Pakarab, one of the country's largest companies. But there is still no regulation of distribution and sale of calcium ammonium nitrate fertilizer.

Crews reach Vermont towns cut off by floods

KILLINGTON, Vt. - Swollen rivers began falling Wednesday in much of the Northeast, easing the flooding that paralyzed parts of the region after Hurricane Irene and allowing emergency crews to reach all but one of the Vermont towns that had been cut off by floodwaters.

Receding water revealed more damage to homes, farms and businesses across the flood-scarred landscape. Repair estimates indicated that the storm would almost certainly rank among the nation's costliest natural disasters, despite packing a lighter punch than initially feared.

Of the 11 towns that had been cut off from the outside world, all except tiny Wardsboro had been reached by rescuers, and authorities were hoping to reach it shortly. National Guard helicopters continued to ferry supplies to mountain communities that had no electricity, no telephone service and limited transportation in or out.

Eight helicopters from the Illinois National Guard were expected to arrive Wednesday with food, blankets, tarps and drinking water.

Gadhafi son vows no surrender to Libyan rebels

TRIPOLI, Libya - Two men claiming to be Moammar Gadhafi's sons made conflicting appeals from hiding Wednesday night, with one of them calling for talks with rebel leaders and the other urging the regime's loyalists to fight to the death.

The dueling messages reflected the growing turmoil in Gadhafi's inner circle on the eve of the 42nd anniversary of his rise to power. This year, the dictator is a fugitive from opposition fighters who have seized most of the country in a six-month civil war. Now, they say they're hot on his trail.

The rebels are pooling tips about Moammar Gadhafi's whereabouts from captured regime fighters and others, and believe he is most likely no longer in Tripoli, said Abdel Hakim Belhaj, the rebels' military chief in the capital.

Rebel forces have been advancing toward three regime strongholds: the town of Sirte, Gadhafi's hometown, as well as the towns of Bani Walid and Sabha, the latter hundreds of miles south of the capital of Tripoli.

There has been speculation that Gadhafi is hiding in one of them.

Colorado loggercuts off toes after foot pinned

DENVER - Jon Hutt was doing logging work all alone in a remote Colorado forest when his six-ton trailer fell onto his right foot.

The pain was excruciating, no one was around to hear his cries for help and he couldn't free himself from the big piece of equipment. So he pulled out his 3-inch pocket knife and cut off his toes to get free.

"It hurt so bad," the 61-year-old Hutt said, "I would cut for a while and then I had to rest."

Hutt then climbed into his semi tractor-trailer, his foot wrapped in a shirt, and began driving for help.

Hutt, who runs a crane business and does logging "for fun," had gone into the woods by himself on Aug. 19 to retrieve a pile of fallen aspen trees to cut for winter firewood. A trailer that was attached to his truck slipped and landed on his foot.

The wiry, 180-pound man told The Associated Press that he began cutting off his toes about 30 minutes later when he realized no one could hear his cries. Hutt said he couldn't reach his cell phone, which was in his truck and out of range anyway.

Hutt told his wife he would be back in several hours from a job 50 miles away, but he did not know when she might start searching for him.

"I cut off my boot to see my foot, and once I realized how bad it was, I started cutting off my toes," Hutt said.

Once he freed himself, Hutt stopped the bleeding with the shirt and drove toward his home outside Montrose, about 175 miles southwest of Denver. He called for help once he was in cell phone range. An ambulance met him on the way.

- The Associated Press