OCR Text |
Show DAILY A4 HERALD Thursday, February ft 2007 FAST FACT MORNING BRIEFING Falling ice crystals may partly melt before they reach the ground, forming sleet Source: Miaopedia of World Facts Compiled from Daily Herald wire services The The WORLD NATION U.S. death in his home overnight, a spokesman for the French Embassy said Wednesday. Michel Niaucel was in A U.S. BAGHDAD, Iraq Marine transport helicopter charge of West Africa secucrashed in flames Wednesrity operations for the EU, embassy spokesman Jacques day in a field northwest of Cuzy said. Baghdad, killing all seven Niaucel had been shot with people aboard, the U.S. milihis own gun by unknown tary said. It was the fifth assailants and died in his U.S. aircraft lost in less than home. The killing did not three weeks and the latest appear to have any political sign of growing problems with aviation in Iraq. motivation, but the investigation was still ongoing, and A U.S. military statement gave no reason for the crash suicide has been ruled out, of the CH46 Sea Knight, Cuzy said. which went down near Fallu-ja- h in Anbar province, about Lebanese fire 20 miles from Baghdad. bulldozer Israeli on However, at the Pentagon, three Marine Corps officials BEIRUT, Lebanon heLebanese troops deployed said the along the border with Israel licopter was in flames when it went down, with the pilot opened fire late Wednesday appearing to attempt a hasty as Israeli troops searched landing but losing control as for Hezbollah bombs, drawthe aircraft descended. ing retaliatory fire, officials from both sides said. They said witnesses in It was the first time that nearby Marine aircraft saw the flames but saw no sign shooting erupted across the border since shortly after an that it involved hostile fire. that ended An Iraqi air force officer, Aug. 14 cease-fir- e war between Israeli however, said the helicopter a forces and the Lebanese Hewas downed by an zbollah militants. missile. He spoke on Lebanese troops opened condition of anonymity because he was not authorized fire on a bulldozer after it Blue crossed the to release information. Line the U.N. demarcated Taliban controls boundary and entered about 20 yards into Lebanon, town Afghan Lebanese officials said. Israeli troops responded KABUL, Afghanistan Taliban militants remain with tanks and light weapin control of a southern Afons, Israeli security officials said on condition of anonymghan town nearly a week after capturing it, but NATO ity because they were not authorized to speak to the meexpects the Afghan governdia. The exchange occurred ment to soon reassert its near the Lebanese village of authority there, an alliance which was spokesman said Wednesday. Maroun the scene of heavy fighting Also Wednesday, two bomb attacks killed five peo- in the summer war, in the central sector of the border. ple in the southern province of Kandahar, officials said. Some 200 people have fled Nepal agrees the southern town of Musa demands protester's militants after Qala captured it last week, said Col. Tom KATMANDU, Nepal The government will allocate Collins, a spokesman for NATO's International Secumore seats in parliament and guarantee places in its adminrity Assistance Force. The Taliban fighters istration to representatives whose local leader was killed of southern Nepal, the prime in a NATO airstrike Sunday minister said Wednesday as are operating in the town he agreed to protesters' demands following clashes that center but are not reinforcing their presence there, Col- have killed 21 people. lins said. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala made the announcement after meeting British hostage with leaders of the seven rulreleased in Nigeria ing parties and former Maoist rebels who are set to join PORT HARCOURT, Nigethe government soon. ria A British oil worker taken hostage last month was freed Wednesday beIran hold security cause he fell ill, officials said. negotitaions The Briton was abducted Iran's TEHRAN, Iran along with an American in a Jan. 23 raid by unknown astop security official, Ali sailants in Port Harcourt in Larijani, said Wednesday Nigeria's southern oil region. he would hold negotiations with Western officials over There was no immediate word on the American's fate. the country's controversial A state spokesman, Emnuclear program during a manuel Okah, said the Britsecurity conference in Ger-- ' ish man was being treated many this weekend. in hospital. He had no details Larijani's meeting with on his illness, which he said Western officials would be the first such since the Unit prompted the release. The British Embassy could ed Nations slapped limited not immediately confirm the sanctions on Iran in Decemman's release. The hostages ber over Tehran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment. worked for Pivot EngineerHis comments suggested ing, an oil services firm. Iran may be on a new diplomatic offensive in efforts to French diplomat stave off sterner measures shot death from the U.N. Security Council, should it fail to meet a ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast deadline later this month to A French diplomat with the European Union was shot to suspend uranium enrichment. helicopter crashes in flames troops troop-transpo- rt III y anti-aircra- ft CLIFF SCHIAPPA Associated Press huge billowing cloud of smoke shrouds the downtown skyline of Kansas City, Mo., on Wednesday as a fire burns at a chemical plant in an industrial area of the city. The explosions and fire at the Chem Central plant in the area known as the East Bottoms, just northeast of downtown, billowed smoke that could be seen for miles. A Huge warehouse blaze in Knoxville, Tenn. A KNOXVILLE, Tenn. spectacular fire early Wednesday destroyed a row of vacant downtown warehouses, injuring three firefighters who had to climb down a hose to safety. Flying embers also started a brief fire at a homeless shelter a block, aw ay and forced officials to evacuate another old building that had been converted to condominiums and businesses near the Old City entertainment district. "It was unbelievable," said Fire Capt. Darrell Whitaker. "It was raining fire." The cause of the blaze had not been determined. It was under control by midmorning "but it is certainly not out," Whitaker said. Residents were allowed to return by dawn. Floor collapses under truck at Pittsburgh convention center - PITTSBURGH A section of concrete floor at the city's convention center gave way under the weight of a tract or trailer, forcing the cancellation of the weekend start to an international auto show, officials said Wednesday. The large slab of concrete in the loading area crashed onto a walkway about 30 feet below after a tractor-traile- r drove in on Monday, officials said. No one was injured, but a cherry picker fell through the hole, and the tractor-traile- r remained stuck. "Obviously, there was a major mistake that was made somewhere," said Allegheny County Executive Dan "There is absolutely no excuse for what happened." He said an independent expert would assess the struc- ture. Judge declares mistrial in court martial FORT LEWIS, Wash. The the week. Oral recordings from blacks to be archived Since the weekend, the cold weat her and slippery roads have contributed to at least five deaths in Ohio, two in Illinois, two in Kentucky, two in Michigan, and one each in Wisconsin, Maryland and Indiana, authorities said. WASHINGTON The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced a project Wednesday that hopes to record at least 1,500 oral histories from black families over the next year. The recordings are to be placed at the Library of Congress and in the archives of the Smithsonian Institution's future National Museum of African American History and Culture. "One of the greatest treasures of African America is the stories, the words, the family memories," said Lonnie Bunch, director of the museum, which is planned for the National Mall. "In essence, this is really one of the ways we will help America to remember by preserving those words," he said. The audio CD recordings will be produced by the New York based nonprofit group Sound Portraits Productions, which produces the StoryCorps interview series on National Public Radio. That series aims to create an oral hisinterviews with ortory of the nation through of Hurricane Katrina survivors citizens, including dinary and relatives of those killed in the Sept. 11 attacks. judge overseeing the court martial of an Army lieutenant who refused to deploy to Iraq declared a mistrial Wednesday, saying the soldier did not fully understand a document he signed admitting to elements of the charges. First Lt. Ehren Watada was fighting charges of conduct unbecoming an officer and missing movement for refusing to leave last June with his unit, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. Death toll from cold snap climbs to 14 CHARLESTON, W.Va. West Virginia called snow-plodrivers out of retirement Wednesday as snowstorms and arctic cold blamed for at least 14 deaths hung over much of the Midwest and East. As much as 9 inches of snow fell in West Virginia in the state's first major storm of the season, prompting schools statewide to either close or open late for a second day in a row. Schools were also shut across of much of Ohio and parts of upstate New York, some for a third straight day. Some travelers spent the night at airports in the Midwest after flights to the Northeast were disrupted, and slick roads led to crashes. In West Virginia, 21 retired snowplow drivers were called in to help crews struggling to clear roads. Forecasters said some areas of upstate New York could receive more than 100 inches of snow before the system breaks chain-reactio- n up Sunday or Monday. Chicago awoke to temperatures around zero with a wind chill of minus 14 an improvewind ment over the minus-3chill reported on Monday. The area was expected to rebound into the low 20s by the end of 0 Bush prods Congress to back parks initiative President LURAY, Va. Bush ventured to the blustery cold Blue Ridge Mountains on Wednesday to highlight his plan to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on national parks. He hopes Democrats and Republicans can embrace the idea. The plan would spend public and private money in the runup to the National Park Ser- vice's 100th birthday in 2016. "Congress needs to hear loud and clear how important this initiative is," Bush said at Shenandoah National Park, dusted with snow. "I fully hope the citizens groups who are concerned about the parks beat a hasty trail to the Congress and remind the Congress about what we have done, and what we need to do as good stewards of the parks," he said. The national parks have struggled with staff shortages and diminished services under flat budgets in recent years. Bush's new budget would give the agency its largest spending increase ever. In all, Bush proposes $2.4 billion for the National Park Service for the budget year that begins Oct. 1. That is $230 million more than he requested last year and includes $100 million more for daily park operations. Explosions rock Kansas City; so far no injuries KANSAS CITY, Mo. - eral explosions engulfed Sev- to to to a chemical plant in flames Wednesday, forcing a broad evacuation as the fire spewed a sticky substance that residents were warned not to touch. There were no immediate reports of injuries, but Kansas City police were busy driving up and down nearby streets warning that more explosions were expected at the Chemcen-tra- l Corp. facility, which stores and distributes various chemicals and solvents. Fire Chief Richard Dyer said officials were evacuating peoe radius, ple within a including about 500 residents, r to and were going get people out. Fire officials also told residents throughout the city to avoid picking up debris carried by the dark cloud that streamed out of downtown, although Fire Chief Richard Dyer said the material was not highly toxic The cloud appeared to be dropping a sticky substance as it moved to the southwest over the metropolitan area. Ken Hannon. a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, said a number of chemicals are at the property, Including mineral spirits, turpentine and other solvents. one-mil- door-to-doo- r o H "IP, 1 . .nTERRY PRAIHERThe - ledger Independent Amiih children tnjoy the day off from school Wednesday and get in some playtime in the snow near Marysville, Ky. Associated Preu Women demonstrate outside a hotel where five associations, representing both victims of terror attacks and those believed to have been killed or kidnapped by security forces during the insurgency, had planned a seminar 'For Truth, Peace and Conciliation", Wednesday in Algiers. Police broke up the seminar that aimed to discuss the darker chapters of Algeria's longtime conflict between Islamic radicals and the military-backegovernment, organizers said. d |