FORMER U.S. SENATOR INJURED DURING MUGGING

Former U.S. senatorinjured during mugging
CHICAGO -- Former U.S. senator and presidential candidate Carol Moseley Braun suffered a broken wrist when a mugger tried to steal her purse, authorities said Saturday. Braun was standing with a relative at her front door late Friday when an assailant came out of the bushes and tried to take her purse, said her spokesman, Kevin Lampe. When Braun resisted, the man pulled a knife and cut the strap of the purse. During the struggle, Braun fell, fracturing her left wrist. She was later treated and released from a hospital. A student from the nearby University of Chicago came to her aid, Lampe said. Zachary Trayes-Gibson said he had been walking with a friend when he heard screams. "I turned to look and saw a woman on the ground and a man on top of her assaulting her," Zachary Trayes-Gibson said. "It looked like he was throwing punches. I turned and ran toward them, and my friend yelled out 'Hey!' and he [the assailant] looked up." After the attacker ran off, Trayes-Gibson was surprised to learn who he was helping.
More states expand kids'health insurance rolls
WASHINGTON -- Many states are making more children eligible for government-funded health insurance even as President Bush's health chief says families are relying too much on public money for the coverage. The goal of the states is to allow more middle-class families to participate in the State Children's Health Insurance Program. The states are raising income limits so families once shut out because of their earnings now can qualify. When the program began a decade ago, states could offer coverage to families whose income was not more than double the federal poverty level. Today, for example, that threshold is 41,300 for a family of four. A few states use a Medicaid-based formula that lets them insure more children than under the income limit. Already, 18 states exceed the 200 percent level, with federal permission. Five more, plus the District of Columbia, could join the list this year, according to a survey by Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families.
Two deer pay unexpectedvisit to retirement home
NEW OXFORD, Pa. -- A pair of deer took a quick tour of a retirement home after one accidentally triggered an automatic door. The animals were wandering near the home when one stepped on a mat that triggered a clear sliding door, according to staff members and surveillance tapes. "The joke afterward was that they were trying to get in because it was taco day," said Frank Buhrman, spokesman for Cross Keys Village/The Brethren Home Community. The deer ran down a hallway where two staff members were waiting for an elevator. The shocked staffers went into a cafeteria service area and closed the door, Buhrman said. One deer walked into the elevator, but left before the door could close and take it to another floor, Buhrman said. The deer then split up. One made it to a loading dock area and escaped through another automatic door. The other jumped through a window, Buhrman said.
Clashes and airstrikeleave 21 Taliban dead
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghan and coalition forces clashed with Taliban militants Saturday in the east and south, killing 21 insurgents, officials said. In one of the incidents, police and militants fought in the Alishar district of Khost province, leaving 11 militants dead, said Wazir Padshah, a provincial police spokesman. He said NATO assisted with an airstrike. Three policemen were wounded. Lt. Col. Angela Billings, spokeswoman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, confirmed that NATO launched an airstrike early Saturday, causing some insurgent casualties. She said there were no NATO or civilian casualties. In southern Helmand province, Afghan and coalition forces also killed 10 suspected Taliban militants in a clash and airstrike, the coalition said in a statement.
Plane bombs facilitynear Sri Lanka's capital
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- A suspected Tamil Tiger rebel aircraft bombed a gas storage facility near Sri Lanka's capital early today and sparked a fire, a military official said. There were no immediate reports of injuries. The plane dropped two bombs on the station in Kerawalapitiya, 6.5 miles north of Colombo, a military official who witnessed the attack said on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media. Troops responded by firing anti-aircraft guns and blacking out the country's only international airport, an adjoining air force base and the entire capital as many residents were up late watching Sri Lanka's cricket team play Australia in the World Cup final on television. Tamil rebels have launched only two other airstrikes, one on Tuesday and one last month, since they started their campaign for a homeland for the country's Tamil minority in 1983.
Associated Press