Taliban says it killed tribal elder

Taliban says it killed tribal elder

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan

A tribal elder was gunned down Tuesday while he was shopping in Kandahar, the latest targeted killing ahead of a NATO-led operation here that will be a critical test of the Afghan war.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying Hayat Khan was “dealing with Americans and working against us.” Khan was a member of a district shura, a traditional meeting of elders and community leaders called upon to solve local issues, said Zulmai Ayubi, a spokesman for the Kandahar provincial governor.

NATO reported two of its service members died in southern Afghanistan on Monday, one in a roadside bombing, the other in a vehicle accident.

Document: Suspect described attack

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.

Describing a scene of violent rage, the Virginia lacrosse player accused of killing a member of the women’s team told police he kicked in her bedroom door and shook her, and her head repeatedly hit the wall, according to a court document.

The suspect, 22-year-old George Huguely, of Chevy Chase, Md., has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of Yeardly Love, also 22.

Huguely was not present at a court hearing Tuesday, but he appeared via videoconference from Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail, wearing a gray-striped uniform.

World’s oldest person dies at 114

TOKYO

The world’s oldest person, a Japanese woman on the southern island of Okinawa, has died a week before her 115th birthday, a spokeswoman said today.

Kama Chinen, who witnessed three centuries, died Sunday, according to Kaoru Shijima, a spokeswoman at her care facility.

She was born May 10, 1895, according to the Gerontology Research Group , which tracks individuals of extremely old age.

The oldest human is now 114-year-old Eugenie Blanchard, a French woman born Feb. 16, 1896, according to the research group.

Strike in Greece

ATHENS, Greece

A general strike today in Greece was halting flights, trains and ferries and paralyzing public services, as unions rally against major new spending cuts aimed at saving the country from bankruptcy.

All flights into and out of Greece stopped at midnight Tuesday. Schools, hospitals, tax offices and the Acropolis along with other ancient sites will be closed. There will be no news broadcasts, and shop owners have been called on to close their shutters during rallies.

Public- and private-sector unions concede that the cash-strapped government was forced to slash spending to secure a vital loan package from European partners and the International Monetary Fund.

But they say low- income Greeks will suffer disproportionately.

Volcano halts flights

DUBLIN

Iceland’s clouds of volcanic ash are menacing European air traffic again, but transport chiefs insisted Tuesday they are learning from last month’s crisis and won’t let the hard-to- measure emissions ground their continent again.

Rising volcanic activity spurred aviation authorities in Ireland, northwest Scotland and the Faeroe Islands to shut down services Tuesday. Their airports reopened several hours later.

But soon a new wave of engine-damaging ash was approaching British airspace, forcing Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority to announce that airports in Scotland and Northern Ireland had to cancel all services indefinitely, beginning at 7 a.m. today.

Associated Press