WORLD DIGEST || Former columnist Tom Wicker dies

Former columnist Tom Wicker dies

MONTPELIER, Vt.

Tom Wicker, the former New York Times political reporter and columnist whose career soared after his acclaimed coverage of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, died Friday at his home in Rochester, Vt. He was 85.

Wicker died after an apparent heart attack Friday morning, his wife, Pamela, said.

“He’d been ill with things that come from being 85,” she said. “He died in his bedroom looking out at the countryside that he loved.”

Wicker grew up in poverty in Hamlet, N.C., and wanted to be a novelist but pursued journalism when his early books didn’t catch fire.

He worked at weekly and daily newspapers in North Carolina before winning a spot as a political correspondent in the Times’ Washington bureau in 1960.

Syrian military stands by regime

BEIRUT

The Syrian military vowed Friday to “cut every evil hand” that targets the country’s security, a defiant stance by the regime as it faces the possibility of sweeping economic sanctions from the Arab League.

The military statement could signal darker days to come in an eight-month revolt against President Bashar Assad that is turning more violent by the day.

Until recently in the uprising, most of the bloodshed came as security forces fired on mainly peaceful protests. But there have been growing reports of army defectors and armed civilians fighting Assad’s forces — a development that some say plays into the regime’s hands by giving government troops a pretext to crack down with overwhelming force.

Death toll from shooting rises to 6

GREENSBORO, N.C.

A 17-year-old shot by his aunt died Friday, bringing the death toll from a weekend massacre outside Greensboro to six, including the shooter, authorities said.

Richard Brian Suttles, who had been shot Sunday along with four other minors and one adult by Mary Ann Holder, died shortly before 1 p.m. Friday, Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes said.

Along with Suttles, Holder killed her two sons, 8-year-old niece and the 15-year-old girlfriend of one of her sons before killing herself.

She also shot her married lover in the shoulder, and police say he’s expected to recover.

Arab students taken off flight

CHARLOTTE, N.C.

Students from the United Arab Emirates were taken off a Thanksgiving Day flight from Charlotte to Washington and rescreened by security, causing the flight to be delayed for more than four hours.

Three of the students told WJLA-TV in Washington they were pulled from the plane and questioned about the purpose of their trip and whether they had military training. They now want an apology.

A US Airways spokeswoman confirmed the flight was delayed because of a security issue but referred further questions to the Transportation Security Administration. A TSA spokesman referred questions back to the airline.

A spokeswoman for the Charlotte airport said the flight crew reported suspicious activity to airport police who then responded. She referred further questions back to US Airways, which again declined to comment.

Associated Press