US drone crew blamed for deaths

US drone crew blamed for deaths

KABUL, Afghanistan

U.S. military investigators found that “inaccurate and unprofessional” reporting by U.S. operators of a Predator drone was responsible for a missile strike that killed 23 Afghan civilians in February, according to a report released Saturday.

Release of the scathing report is part of a U.S. effort to counter rising public anger over civilian deaths, which threatens to undermine the campaign against the Taliban at a critical juncture in the nearly nine-year war. Twelve other civilians including a woman and three children were wounded in the missile strike, the report said.

Four American officers — two described as senior — received career-damaging reprimands, the U.S. command said in a statement.

UK official resigns in expenses scandal

LONDON

A senior minister in Britain’s new coalition government resigned Saturday after admitting that he claimed tens of thousands of dollars in taxpayers’ money to pay rent to his long-term partner.

David Laws said he would step down immediately as chief treasury secretary, a role he had occupied for less than a month. He will be replaced by fellow Liberal Democrat Danny Alexander.

It was the first major setback to Prime Minister David Cameron’s coalition government, which had promised to crack down on politicians’ abuse of expense claims.

Man who stole ID is from Bulgaria

PORTLAND, Ore

The mystery over the real identity of an Oregon man calling himself Jason Robert Evers has been solved — he was born in Bulgaria, not Ohio.

A family that hosted Doitchin Krasev in Virginia told The Associated Press on Saturday they were shocked to find out he had been living under an assumed name.

Michael Horowitz says Krasev’s parents wanted a better life for their son. So they sent him to live with Horowitz and his wife.

But after two years, Krasev dropped out of college and disappeared without contacting his host family or his parents in Bulgaria.

He assumed a name belonging to an Ohio boy killed during a kidnapping in 1982. He was arrested last month and faces a charge of providing false information on a passport application.

At least 12 die in tropical storm

GUATEMALA CITY

Disaster officials in Guatemala say at least 12 people have been killed and 11 are missing from heavy rains brought by Tropical Storm Agatha.

David de Leon, spokesman the National Disaster Relief Coordinator, said four children were buried in a rain-triggered landslide in the town of Santa Catarina Pinula outside Guatemala City, and four adults were killed in a poor part of the capital.

Earlier, de Leon said two children and two adults were killed when Agatha’s rains generated dislodged a boulder that crushed a house in the department of Quetzaltenango.

Agatha reached land near the Guatemala-Mexico border Saturday evening.

China pressured to support sanctions

SEOGWIPO, South Korea

Pressure was rising on regional giant China to support efforts to punish North Korea over the sinking of a South Korean warship — the issue that was dominating a three-nation weekend summit.

China showed no signs publicly Saturday of joining South Korea and Japan in rebuking Pyongyang, but Premier Wen Jiabao said he hoped their summit would help achieve peace. Officials said Saturday’s discussions focused on trade issues and the ship sinking was on today’s agenda for the meeting on the South Korean resort island of Jeju.

Associated Press