A senior Al Qaeda suspect wanted for bombing American embassies in East Africa was killed in a U.S. airstrike, a Somali official said Wednesday, a report that if confirmed would mean the end of an eight-year hunt for a top target of Washington’s war on terrorism. The report came as U.S. forces apparently launched a third day of airstrikes in southern Somalia.
PM warns of U.S. onslaught
Iraq’s prime minister has told Shiite militiamen to surrender their arms or face an all-out assault by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces, senior Iraqi officials said Wednesday, as American and Iraqi troops prepared operations aimed at ending sectarian warfare in Baghdad. Also, Iraq President Jalal Talabani said the government should delay the execution of two of Saddam Hussein’s co-defendants.
2 soldiers die in prank
Two Colombian army soldiers died Wednesday from burns suffered when their beds were set ablaze by their peers in what officials say was apparently a prank gone awry. Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said the tragedy was the result of a hazing ritual known as “the Dragon Game” in which pieces of toilet paper are placed between the fingers of sleeping soldiers and then set afire.
Turtle back from the dead
Thai villagers have caught a river terrapin turtle that was thought to be extinct in the country, a leading conservation group said Wednesday. The female turtle–known for its egg-shaped shell and upturned snout–was found Jan. 3, said the World Wide Fund for Nature-Thailand. It was the first time the species was found in Thailand in two decades, the WWF said.
AND FINALLY
Lose a bet, ski nude
Rainer Schoenfelder lost a bet Wednesday, and paid for it by skiing nude.
The 29-year-old Austrian skier from Wengen, Switzerland, who hurt his neck and back in a crash last week, lost a bet with his physiotherapist, who had been treating his injuries. Schoenfelder had vowed to ski naked if his pains had lessened by Wednesday morning. And to add to the embarrassment, a photographer snapped a shot of the skier that has been circulated on the Internet.
