Mass grave found

Mass grave found

MEXICO CITY

More than 40 bodies have been found in a mass grave in the northern Mexico state of Tamaulipas, near the site where suspected drug gang members massacred 72 migrants last summer, authorities said Wednesday.

Ruben Dario, a spokesman for the Tamaulipas state Attorney General’s Office, said the site was being excavated to determine the exact number of dead and their identities.

Ivory Coast turmoil

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast

Heavy arms fire rang out Wednesday near the home of the country’s strongman who remained holed up in a subterranean bunker, as forces backing his rival assaulted the residence to try to force him out, diplomats and witnesses said.

Forces protecting Laurent Gbagbo appeared to rally Wednesday night, pushing back the armed group fighting to install democratically elected president Alassane Ouattara.

A spokesman for Ouattara’s fighters, Yves Doumbia, said their forces breached the gates of the ruler’s compound, only to be repelled by heavy arms fire.

US assures Saudi of strong ties

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia

Defense Secretary Robert Gates tried to smooth the worst rift in years with Arab ally and oil producer Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, reassuring the Saudi king that the U.S. remains a steady friend despite support for pro-democracy revolutions in the Middle East.

The Saudi king, looking thin after months of medical treatment in the United States and elsewhere, welcomed Gates for what the Pentagon chief later said was a cordial and warm visit.

The hospitality masked deep unease among Saudi Arabia’s aged leadership about what the political upheaval in the Middle East means for its hold on power, its role as the chief counterweight to a rising Iran, and its changed relationship with the United States.

‘If you get shot at, you can have a shot’

JUNEAU, Alaska

Alaska is the latest state to weigh in on a long-running argument: If you’re old enough to fight and die for your country, you should be old enough to drink a beer.

An Alaska lawmaker who served in Vietnam is pushing a bill that would allow active-duty service members under 21 to drink alcohol as long as they could produce an armed forces identification card. Those under 19 — Alaska’s smoking age — would be allowed to buy tobacco products.

“It’s not fair that one guy in a fox hole can go home and have a beer while another guy in the fox hole can’t,” said Rep. Bob Lynn, R-Anchorage. “It’s not about drinking, it’s not about smoking, it’s about equality. If you get shot at, you can have a shot.”

Gunman fires in Nebraska hospital

OMAHA, Neb.

A gunman shot a man Wednesday in the lobby of an Omaha hospital, and the suspect was quickly apprehended by a swarm of officers already inside the building to keep watch as a sheriff’s deputy was treated for a gunshot wound in an unrelated case. Creighton University Medical Center was placed on lockdown soon after the shooting.

Prevention in Japan

TOKYO

After notching a rare victory by stopping highly radioactive water from flowing into the Pacific, workers at Japan’s flooded nuclear power complex turned to their next task early Thursday: injecting nitrogen to prevent more hydrogen explosions.

Nuclear officials said Wednesday there was no immediate threat of explosions like the three that rocked the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant not long after a massive tsunami hit on March 11, but their plans are a reminder of how much work remains to stabilize the complex.

VINDICATOR WIRE REPORTS