Army to cut war tours to 9 months

Army to cut war tours to 9 months

washington

Aided by the shrinking troop requirements for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army is cutting the current yearlong deployment tours to nine months for most of its units beginning next January.

The change will not affect any of the Army troops deploying this year, and some high-demand units — such as aviation and military police — will continue to serve 12-month tours.

The move comes as the Iraq war continues to wind down and as the U.S. begins what is to be a slow, deliberate withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The Army is also planning to cut more than 8,700 civilian jobs over the next year.

Polar bear kills 1, injures 4 in Norway

oslo, norway

A 17-year-old Briton was killed and four were injured Friday in a polar bear attack off northern Norway, the governor of Svalbard said.

The victims were members of a group from the British Schools Exploring Society, which organizes nature tours for young people to polar regions, deserts, mountains and jungles.

The injured were two other participants, age 16 and 17, and two leaders, age 27 and 29, the governor’s office said, according to Norwegian news agency NTB.

Spacecraft begins 5-year trip to Jupiter

cape canaveral, fla.

A sun-powered robotic explorer named Juno is rocketing toward Jupiter on a fresh quest to discover the secret recipe for making planets.

Hundreds of scientists and their families and friends — among thousands of invited guests — cheered and yelled “Go Juno!” as the unmanned Atlas rocket blasted into a clear midday sky Friday. It will take five years to reach Jupiter, the solar system’s most massive and ancient planet.

Libya denies death of Gadhafi’s son

benghazi, libya

The Libyan government on Friday denied rebel reports that Moammar Gadhafi’s youngest son was killed in a NATO airstrike on a front-line town in western Libya.

Early Friday, officials in the rebel’s de facto capital of Benghazi said that Khamis Gadhafi was among 32 troops killed in a NATO strike early Friday on a government operations center in Zlitan.

But in Tripoli, Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim said Khamis is alive and spoke to Libyan government officials Friday to confirm his well-being. “He is OK and alive, and they [reports of death] are just lies,” Kaim told The Associated Press.

Fight for food leaves 7 dead in Somalia

mogadishu, somalia

A World Food Program handout of corn rations to Somalis trying to survive a famine turned deadly Friday after government troops opened fire, killing at least seven, witnesses said.

Residents of Mogadishu’s largest famine refugee camp accused government soldiers of starting the chaos by trying to steal some of the 290 tons of dry rations that aid workers were trying to distribute there. Then refugees joined in the scramble, prompting soldiers to open fire, the witnesses said.

Bus driver gets jail in fatal Utah crash

salt lake city

A tour-bus driver will spend less than a year in jail for an accident that killed three Japanese tourists last year.

Judge Michael Westfall sentenced him to 15 years in prison Friday but then suspended most of the sentence. Court records show Yasushi Mikuni, 26, will spend 363 days in the Iron County Jail and serve three years’ probation.

Combined dispatches