A woman wearing a vest lined with explosives blew herself up near Shiite worshippers in turbulent Khan Bani Saad, Iraq, on Wednesday, killing nine of them — the latest in a growing number of female suicide attacks. Six people were wounded, police said. Meanwhile, small arms fire killed three U.S. soldiers conducting operations Wednesday north of Baghdad, the military said. Two other U.S. soldiers were wounded.
Castro not ready to speak in public
Fidel Castro said Wednesday he is not yet healthy enough to address Cuba’s people in person and can’t campaign for Sunday’s parliamentary elections. “I am not physically able to speak directly to the citizens of the municipality where I was nominated for our elections,” the ailing 81-year-old wrote in an essay published by state news media.
Egypt backs Bush peace plan
President Bush’s fast-track plan for a Mideast peace agreement got a welcome endorsement Wednesday from Egypt, a nation long seen as a key Arab mediator. Bush responded by pulling his punches on the human rights backpedaling in Egypt that has cooled relations with this longtime ally. The president closed an eight-day Mideast trip in an upbeat mood.
Drug-resistant TB reported
Botswana health authorities on Wednesday reported their first known cases of virtually untreatable tuberculosis, a highly contagious strain first detected in the region in South Africa. The Botswana health ministry said there were two cases of so-called extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, or XDR-TB. Although XDR-TB has been reported in other parts of the world, it is particularly lethal in southern Africa, where AIDS incidence is high.
AND FINALLY …
Look again — that’s a chimp
A chimpanzee cannot be declared a person, Austria’s Supreme Court has ruled, activists said Tuesday. An animal rights group had sought to have the chimp, Matthew Hiasl Pan, declared a person in hopes of gaining guardianship of the animal. The shelter where Matthew has lived for 25 years is going bankrupt, threatening to leave him homeless. Under Austrian law, only a person can receive personal gifts.
