Witnesses: Gunmen killed 4 protesters

Witnesses: Gunmen killed 4 protesters

beirut

Syrian security forces and pro-government gunmen killed four protesters Sunday in the port city of Banias after the army sealed off the city as hundreds of protesters gathered, undaunted by the regime’s use of deadly force to quell more than three weeks of unrest, witnesses said. State TV reported that nine soldiers were killed in an ambush near the city.

Details were sketchy because telephone lines, Internet access and electricity were cut to most parts of the city. Army tanks and soldiers circled the city, preventing people from entering.

Rockets fired by forces in Ivory Coast

abidjan, ivory coast

United Nations and French helicopters fired rockets on strongman Laurent Gbagbo’s residence Sunday in an assault the U.N. said was to retaliate for attacks by his forces on U.N. headquarters and civilians.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he had authorized the strikes, accusing Gbagbo of using heavy weapons against Ivory Coast civilians and the U.N. forces trying to protect them.

Residents from nearby neighborhoods reported seeing two U.N. Mi-24 attack helicopters and a French helicopter open fire on the residence, where Gbagbo is holed up in a bunker.

Think-tank: Global arms spending slows

stockholm

The world’s military spending grew by only 1.3 percent in 2010, thanks to budget constraints caused by the global financial crisis, with the top three arms investors being the United States, China and Britain, a think-tank said today.

South America was the region with the largest military spending growth of 5.8 percent, said the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The institution, known as SIPRI, said global military spending in 2010 was the lowest since 2001.

It said the United States topped the list by spending $698 billion last year, followed by China with $119 billion and the United Kingdom with $59.6 billion.

Group: Gadhafi OKs cease-fire plan

tripoli, libya

A delegation of African leaders said Sunday that their Libyan counterpart, Moammar Gadhafi, accepted their “road map” for a cease-fire with rebels, whom they will meet today. They met hours after NATO airstrikes battered Gadhafi’s tanks, helping Libyan rebels push back government troops who had been advancing quickly toward the opposition’s eastern stronghold.

The African Union’s road- map calls for an immediate cease-fire, cooperation in opening channels for humanitarian aid and starting a dialogue between the rebels and the government. AU officials, however, made no mention of any requirement for Gadhafi to pull his troops out of cities as rebels have demanded.

Tornado destroys part of Iowa town

mapleton, iowa

Jamy Garden’s house began to rumble with the approach of a tornado that at one point measured three-quarters of a mile wide. Then the windows shattered, spraying her with glass.

On Sunday, she returned home, wandering her backyard in a blood-splattered hooded sweat shirt, her right hand and left knee wrapped in gauze. Around her lay a tangle of tree branches, twisted siding, broken glass and a canoe that wasn’t hers.

The tornado that struck the evening before damaged more than half of Mapleton, a town of 1,200 in western Iowa, Mayor Fred Standa said Sunday. He estimated about 20 percent of the town was “almost flat.”

Associated Press