Taliban release video of US soldier

Taliban release video of US soldier

WASHINGTON

The Taliban released a video Wednesday of a man identified as an American soldier captured in Afghanistan last June, showing him pleading for his freedom and to be returned home.

In the video, Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl says he wants to return to his family in Idaho and that the war in Afghanistan is not worth the number of lives that have been lost or wasted in prison. It is the first he has been seen since the Taliban released a video of him on Christmas Day.

The seven-minute video of Bergdahl shows him sporting a beard and doing a few push-ups to demonstrate he’s in good physical condition. There was no way to verify when the footage was taken or if he is still alive.

Pentagon officials could not immediately be reached to comment.

FBI arrests man over threats to Pelosi

SAN FRANCISCO

The FBI says the suspect accused of making threatening phone calls to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is a 48-year-old San Francisco man.

FBI spokesman Joseph Schadler identified the man as Gregory Lee Giusti. He was arrested at his home Wednesday.

Schadler did not disclose the charges against Giusti, but said he’s due in court today.

Huge lizard is new, scientists confirm

MANILA, Philippines

Researchers have concluded that a giant, golden-spotted monitor lizard discovered in the forested mountains of the Philippines six years ago is a new species, according to a study released Wednesday.

The 6.5-foot-long lizard was first spotted in 2004 in the Sierra Madre mountains on the island of Luzon when local researchers saw local Agta tribesmen carrying one of the dead reptiles.

It took until last year to determine it was a new species. After capturing an adult, researchers from the University of Kansas and the National Museum of the Philippines obtained DNA samples that helped confirm the lizard was new to science.

Study: 9/11-related lung damage goes on

NEW YORK

Most of the New York City firefighters and medics whose lungs were damaged by pulverized masonry and glass from the World Trade Center attacks are not improving as time goes by, according to a new study.

The results are based on breathing tests from nearly 11,000 firefighters who were at ground zero in first two weeks when the dust cloud was thickest. Of the firefighters who didn’t smoke, 13 percent were still scoring below normal up to seven years later, down from 18 percent, the study found.

Among emergency medical technicians, the numbers were worse. Of the nearly 2,000 EMTs included in the analysis, 22 percent of the nonsmokers scored below normal on their most recent breathing test.

Church: Bishop resigned over abuse

OSLO

A Catholic bishop in Norway who resigned last year did so after admitting he had molested a child about 20 years earlier, when he was a priest, church officials said Wednesday.

The announcement came after a Norwegian newspaper pressed for an explanation for why Georg Mueller, a 58-year-old German, had stepped down unexpectedly as bishop in June 2009. At the time, Vatican and Norwegian church officials gave only vague reasons.

It was the first case in the current wave of sexual abuse allegations against Catholic clergy in which a bishop stepped down after admitting to molesting minors.

Associated Press