Body found in wall at Yale

Body found in wall at Yale

MELVILLE, N.Y. — Investigators have found a body in a wall in the Yale University laboratory where a missing graduate student had last been seen, officials said Sunday.

Police believe the remains to be those of Annie Le, 24, reported missing Tuesday night, assistant police chief Peter Reichard said at a hastily called news conference Sunday evening.

Reichard said the body was found at about 5 p.m. in a chase — a vertical space used for ducts, pipes or wires — in the lab at 10 Amistad St. in New Haven, Conn.

“We are assuming that it is her,” said Reichard, who said the investigation into Le’s disappearance has been classified a homicide.

Afghan official: Dozens of Taliban killed; 3 troops die

KABUL — A battle in western Afghanistan that included airstrikes killed dozens of Taliban militants after an insurgent ambush left three U.S. troops dead, an Afghan official said Sunday.

The hours-long battle took place Saturday in the western province of Farah after a complex attack killed three Americans and seven Afghan troops, said Afghan army spokesman Maj. Abdul Basir Ghori.

The insurgent ambush involved two roadside bombs, gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades, Capt. Elizabeth Mathias, a U.S. military spokeswoman, said Sunday. Mathias confirmed that fighting in the west continued for six to eight hours after the ambush, but could not provide any casualty figures.

Police say syringes will help stop drunken driving

BOISE, Idaho — When police officer Darryll Dowell is on patrol in the southwestern Idaho city of Nampa, he’ll pull up at a stoplight and usually start casing the vehicle. Nowadays, his eyes will also focus on the driver’s arms, as he tries to search for a plump vein.

“I was looking at people’s arms and hands, thinking, ‘I could draw from that,’” Dowell said.

It’s all part of training he and a select cadre of officers in Idaho and Texas have received in recent months to draw blood from those suspected of drunken or drugged driving. The federal program’s aim is to determine if blood draws by cops can be an effective tool against drunk drivers and aid in their prosecution.

If the results seem promising after a year or two, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will encourage police nationwide to undergo similar training.

Civilian contractor shot dead on U.S. base in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A civilian contractor was shot and killed Sunday on an American military base in the Iraqi city of Tikrit and a U.S. soldier has been detained in connection with the incident, the military said.

The contractor was shot at 8:30 a.m. at Camp Speicher, the military said in a statement.

Houston-based KBR confirmed the man killed was one of its employees, 27-year-old Lucas Vinson from Louisiana. No hometown was available.

AFL-CIO president bids farewell as labor leader

PITTSBURGH — John Sweeney, stepping down after 14 years at the helm of the AFL-CIO, urged union leaders Sunday to keep up the fight to reform health care and overhaul labor laws so workers can form unions more easily.

“We’re on the cusp of the greatest advance in labor law reform in 70 years, but we’re taking heavy fire from the corporate captains of deceit,” Sweeney told about 1,000 union members at the federation’s convention.

He said efforts to pass health-care legislation have been met with “a firestorm of meanness, stoked by politicians playing on fear, racism, nativism and greed.”

Health care and labor laws lie at the forefront of the AFL-CIO’s political agenda as it welcomes new leadership for the first time since 1995. Sweeney’s longtime deputy, Richard Trumka, is expected to be named AFL-CIO president.

Venezuela gets $2.2B in credit for Russian arms

CARACAS, Venezuela — Russia has opened a $2.2 billion line of credit for Venezuela to purchase weapons including armored vehicles and surface-to-air missiles, President Hugo Chavez said Sunday.

Venezuela is buying more arms because it feels threatened by Colombia’s decision to give U.S. troops greater access to its military bases, Chavez said.

Repeating a frequent theme of his presidency, the socialist leader said the United States would like to invade Venezuela and seize the country’s oil fields. He said the bases in Colombia could help the U.S. stage such an attack.

The arms deal was announced last week.

Combined dispatches