More than 100 militants killed in Thailand fighting

More than 100 militantskilled in Thailand fighting
PATTANI, Thailand -- Scores of teenage militants armed with little more than machetes attacked security outposts across Thailand's troubled Muslim-dominated south today, but they were repulsed by police who had been tipped off to the offensive. At least 107 militants were killed.
The last of the raids was quashed when police fired tear gas into a mosque and then killed 11 fighters who tried to escape. Three policemen and two soldiers were also slain in the fighting.
It was the worst violence in a region that has seen dozens of people killed in near-daily attacks this year. The government has blamed Islamic separatists who have sought to carve out a homeland in the Muslim-majority south of this predominantly Buddhist country for decades.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra denied the attackers had connections to international terrorists. Officials said the attacks were bids to steal weapons from checkpoints and military bases.
N. Korea: Thousands lefthomeless by train blast
SHANGHAI, China -- North Korea made new pleas for help, and thousands of rescuers rushed in food, medicine and tents as the victims of last week's train explosion struggled to stay clean and warm nearly a week after the disaster.
About 370 victims remained hospitalized, two-thirds of them children. Many suffered severe burns and eye injuries from the blast's shock wave of glass, rubble and heat. Many could lose sight in at least one eye, said Dr. Eigil Sorensen, a representative for the World Health Organization. He visited the blast site and nearby hospitals Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the often standoffish North intensified its appeals for aid. Property damage from the explosion, as powerful as 100 one-ton bombs, was estimated at $356 million, the official North Korean news agency KCNA said.
KCNA said many victims were left "deaf and blind" by the blast. It said the explosion in Ryongchon, a town of 130,000 near the Chinese border, destroyed at least 8,100 homes and more than 30 public buildings. About 20,000 rescuers were on the scene, it said.
Heroic kangaroo honored
CANBERRA, Australia -- A kangaroo will receive a valor award for rescuing a farmer who was knocked unconscious by a falling tree limb, Australia's national animal protection society said today.
Lulu, a 4-year-old eastern gray kangaroo, raised the alarm after Len Richards was knocked cold in September on his cattle ranch about 100 miles east of Melbourne.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) Australia will present Lulu with the Australian Animal Valor Award next month.
Richards, 51, said he owed his life to Lulu, whom he rescued after her mother had been killed by a logging truck.
Richards estimates he had been unconscious for about 30 minutes before his nephew, Brendan Richards, investigated the kangaroo's commotion.
"Brendan said she was standing over me with her big hind legs at my back," Richards said. "She looked like she'd rolled me over on my side to keep my airway clear, but we'll never know for sure."
3 dead in helicopter crash
FLORENCE, S.C. -- A truck driver spotted the wreckage of an Army helicopter on a river bank after it vanished during a training mission in bad weather, and searchers later recovered the bodies of the three soldiers who were aboard.
The wreckage of the UH-60 Black Hawk was found Tuesday night near a bridge off Interstate 95, about 100 miles northeast of Columbia, said Maj. Rich Patterson, a Fort Bragg spokesman at the command post here. The soldiers' bodies were recovered later.
The helicopter was reported missing Monday night during a flight from Fort Bragg, N.C., to Florence that involved training with night vision goggles.
"The unit has spoken with the families. However, we are waiting for the official casualty notification procedures before we release the names," Patterson said.
Associated Press