19 die in courthouse bombing
Suicide strike part of series of attacks in Pakistani city
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A suicide bomb strike on a crowded courthouse in Peshawar killed 19 people Thursday, the 10th bomb attack in six weeks for a city bearing the brunt of retaliation from Taliban militants battling Pakistani troops along the Afghan border.
Now in its fifth week, Pakistan’s military offensive has succeeded in retaking much of the ground held by Taliban and al-Qaida fighters in South Waziristan, for years the militants’ primary stronghold. That success, however, has been tempered by a wave of militant attacks since early October that have claimed more than 300 lives across Pakistan; at least 247 of those deaths have been in the Peshawar area.
Authorities said the attacker tried to push his way into the city’s judicial complex but was stopped by police officers at the courthouse’s main gate. When they tried to search him, he detonated a jacket filled with explosives, officials said.
At least three of those killed were police officers, and at least 51 people were wounded. Authorities said the toll would have been far worse if police officers at the main gate had not stopped the attacker. Their actions marked the third time in five days that police in the Peshawar region kept an attacker from causing far greater loss of life. Suicide car bomb attacks on Saturday and Monday occurred at police checkpoints on the outskirts of the city, which authorities believe were not the intended targets.
Just after midnight Friday, a remote controlled bomb destroyed a police vehicle in Peshawar, killing two officers and wounding four others, The Associated Press reported.
The wave of attacks has cast a pall on everyday life in Peshawar, where Pakistanis are limiting their trips to markets and many parents are keeping their children from attending school. Dozens of streets have been closed off with barricades.
Local officials blame much of the violence in Peshawar on the national government’s decision to announce its intent to launch an offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan weeks before sending troops into the region. That gave militants ample time to escape and seek refuge in places like Peshawar’s suburbs. Many of the attacks hitting the city are being launched from those suburbs.
— Alex Rodriguez and Zulfiqar Ali, Tribune Newspapers
NATION
Army limits media access for Palin event at Bragg
RALEIGH, N.C. — The Army will allow the media limited coverage of Sarah Palin’s book signing at Fort Bragg, but will bar interviews of her or her supporters on the post, officials said Thursday.
A Fort Bragg spokesman initially said the Army would ban the media from Palin’s event next week, fearing coverage would offer attendees a chance to express political opinions against President Barack Obama.
“There are Army regulations that basically prohibit military reservations from becoming political platforms by politicians,” spokesman Tom McCollum said.
Palin has agreed not to give a speech. She will sign her book, “Going Rogue,” for people but will not stop for photographs.
Heavy tilt toward South
ATLANTA — High rates of obesity and diabetes were reported in more than 80 percent of counties in the Appalachian regions of Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia, according to new research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The same was seen in about 75 percent of counties in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia and South Carolina.
The five counties with the highest rates were Greene and Dallas counties in Alabama and Holmes, Humphreys and Jefferson counties in Mississippi. Each reported obesity rates of around 44 percent. The national adult obesity rate is roughly 26 percent.
Postal Service pulls plug on letters from Santa
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A group of volunteer Santa Claus “elves” in Alaska’s frigid interior is determined to save a popular holiday letter service featuring the North Pole’s most beloved icon.
The group is looking to counter a decision by the U.S. Postal Service to discontinue a program begun in 1954 in the small town of North Pole, where volunteers open and respond to thousands of letters addressed to “Santa Claus, North Pole” each year.
Gabby Gaborik said he met with Postal Service officials this week to come up with an alternative. He’s now working with local government officials to get “101 Santa Claus Lane” as an address for his group, Santa’s Mailbag.
WORLD
Iraqi sentenced to death
BAGHDAD — An Iraqi court on Thursday sentenced the Sunni leader of a government-allied paramilitary group to death for murder and kidnapping in a case that highlighted tensions over the treatment of former insurgents who turned against al-Qaida.
Adel al-Mashhadani’s arrest in March set off a two-day battle in Baghdad pitting U.S. and forces of Iraq’s Shiite-led government against al-Mashhadani’s group, which comprised Sunni Arabs who had earlier abandoned the insurgency and joined the fight against al-Qaida. At least four people died.
Meanwhile in Houston, a woman who claimed she was raped in 2005 while working in Iraq for a former Halliburton Co. subsidiary has been awarded nearly $3 million by an arbitrator to settle her case.
A federal judge had dismissed Tracy Barker’s lawsuit in 2008, ruling she had to abide by an employment agreement she signed that said any claims against the company would have to be settled through arbitration and not the courts.
Vacancy atop Honduras
TEGUCICALPA, Honduras –Roberto Micheletti, Honduras’ interim president, said Thursday he may step down temporarily to allow voters to concentrate on the upcoming Nov. 29 presidential elections.
Micheletti said he will consult his advisers and those who have supported his government on whether he should step aside. He did not say who would be in charge of the government if he takes the weeklong leave of absence.
THE NEWSMAKER
There once was an EU leader from Brussels …
Belgian Premier Herman Van Rompuy, perhaps best known for reciting his poem urging cooperation among Belgium, Spain and Hungary, was named the European Union’s first full-time president Thursday. The post, meant to give Europe a global voice equal to its economic heft, fell to the soft-spoken Van Rompuy after national leaders passed on several high-profile — and potentially divisive — individuals. The poem? “Three waves. Roll into port together. The trio is home.”
