U.S. & WORLD NEWS DIGEST | 2 NATO troops die in roadside blast

2 NATO troops die in roadside blast

KABUL

A roadside bomb killed two NATO troops in southern Afghanistan on Sunday as international forces braced for a spring surge in fighting.

A third NATO soldier aboard a coalition helicopter died Saturday when the chopper crashed in the eastern province of Kapisa, and troops evacuating the crew had to use small-arms fire and airstrikes to counter insurgent fire, alliance officials said.

Passenger attacks flight attendant

ROME

An agitated passenger aboard an Alitalia flight from Paris to Rome on Sunday night attacked a flight attendant and demanded the plane be diverted to Libya, but other attendants subdued the man, the airline said.

The flight landed safely in the Italian capital as scheduled, Alitalia said in a statement. All 131 passengers aboard flight AZ329 disembarked safely in Rome.

Alitalia didn’t identify the passenger. The Italian news agency ANSA reported that he was a middle-aged man from Kazakhstan with no criminal record. ANSA said the man had brandished nail clippers against the flight attendant.

FBI releases name in bombing attempt

LITTLETON, Colo.

The man authorities say is suspected of carrying out an apparent attempted bombing at a Colorado mall had been released from prison a week earlier.

The FBI said Sunday that agents are looking for Earl Albert Moore after Wednesday’s fire at Southwest Plaza Mall, about two miles from Columbine High School, where 13 people were killed 12 years ago. Federal Bureau of Prisons records show that Moore, 65, was released from prison April 13.

FBI spokesman Dave Joly said Moore served time in a Georgia federal prison. Federal court records show that Moore pleaded guilty in May 2005 to robbing a bank in Crab Orchard, W.Va., of $2,546.

Pediatricians: Regulate chemicals

CHICAGO

Alarmed by studies showing children are vulnerable to toxic chemicals found in scores of consumer products, the nation’s largest pediatrician group is joining a growing campaign to change how the U.S. regulates hazardous substances.

In a policy statement to be issued today, the American Academy of Pediatrics condemns a 1976 federal law that largely relies on chemical manufacturers to raise concerns about their products. Unlike the system for guaranteeing the safety of pharmaceutical drugs or substances added to food, the Toxic Substance Control Act limits federal officials from ordering testing or banning industrial chemicals.

Group: 500 die in riots in Nigeria

BAUCHI, Nigeria

At least 500 people died in religious rioting that followed Nigeria’s presidential election, a civil-rights group said Sunday, as volatile state gubernatorial elections loom this week. Meanwhile, police in the northern state of Bauchi said at least 11 recent college graduates who helped run polling stations as part of the country’s national youth-service corps have been killed in postelection violence, and other female poll workers have been raped.

Workers recover body of miner

BOISE, Idaho

The operator of a northern Idaho silver mine says workers have recovered the body of a miner who was trapped when a tunnel collapsed nine days ago.

Hecla Mining Co. says the body of Larry Marek was discovered Sunday afternoon.

Crews labored round-the-clock to dig through the collapsed debris to reach Marek, but by Sunday, officials had determined he could not have survived.

Combined dispatches