Iraqi security forces

Iraqi security forces

BAGHDAD — The number of Iraqi security forces killed in September rose by nearly a third to 159 compared with the same period last year, Associated Press figures showed Tuesday. U.S. troop deaths for the same period fell by nearly 40 percent to 25.

The figures are a sign that U.S. military is increasingly relying on the Iraqis, including U.S.-allied Sunni fighters, to take the lead in operations so they can assume responsibility for their own security and let the Americans eventually withdraw.

Overall civilian casualty figures remained relatively low despite a spate of deadly attacks in Baghdad and surrounding areas during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, which ended Tuesday for Sunnis and Thursday for most Shiites.

Man saves dog from shark attack in Florida

ISLAMORADA, Fla. — A dog is recovering after a Florida Keys carpenter dived in to save his pet from a shark.

Greg LeNoir said he took his 14-pound rat terrier, Jake, for a daily swim at a marina Friday.

The five-foot shark suddenly surfaced and grabbed nearly the entire dog in its mouth.

LeNoir said he yelled, then balled up his fists and dived headfirst into the water. He hit the shark in the back, and it finally let go of the dog.

Man and dog made it safely back to shore. The dog suffered bite wounds but was not critically injured.

Gorbachev, billionaire to form new political party

MOSCOW — A Russian billionaire said Tuesday he is teaming up with former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev to form a new political party that will challenge the country’s recent steps away from democracy.

Alexander Lebedev, a former lawmaker who has built a fortune in business and investment, said he and Gorbachev would work together in a political movement tentatively named the Independent Democratic Party.

Kremlin critics say that during his eight years as president, current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin reversed Russia’s post-Soviet movement toward democracy and enhanced state control over the economy, courts and media.

Milk tea powder recalled

HONG KONG — Anglo-Dutch food giant Unilever is recalling its Lipton-brand milk tea powder in Hong Kong and Macau after they were found to contain traces of a banned industrial chemical, the company said Tuesday.

The recall of four batches of Lipton’s 3-in-1 milk tea powder came after the company’s internal quality check found melamine, used to make plastics and fertilizers, in the products, Unilever Hong Kong Ltd. said in a statement.

The contaminated products used Chinese-made milk powder as raw material, said marketing director Sharon Hwang for Unilever Hong Kong. She declined to reveal which brand the company had used.

New Pakistan spy chief seen as tough on militants

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan’s army chief named a general considered a hawk in the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban to head the country’s powerful spy agency, asserting his control at a time of U.S. concern that rogue operatives are aiding Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.

Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shujaa Pasha oversaw military offensives against militants in the lawless border regions with Afghanistan in his most recent job as director general of military operations.

His appointment as head of the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, the country’s main spy agency, was part of a broader shake-up of army top brass announced late Monday by military chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.

Pirates say they celebrated Muslim holiday on ship

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somali pirates said Tuesday they celebrated a Muslim holiday aboard a hijacked freighter and denied reports that three comrades were killed in a shootout on the vessel, which is being closely watched by a half-dozen U.S. warships.

The hijacking of the MV Faina — laden with 33 Soviet-made T-72 tanks, rifles and heavy weapons that U.S. defense officials have said included rocket launchers — was the highest-profile act of piracy in the dangerous waters this year. The U.S. Navy has said it wants to keep the arms out of the hands of militants linked to al-Qaida in impoverished Somalia, a key battleground in the war on terrorism.

Associated Press