Gunmen kill 5 female polio workers

Gunmen kill 5 female polio workers

KARACHI, PAKISTAN

Gunmen shot dead five women working on U.N.-backed polio vaccination efforts in two different Pakistani cities Tuesday, officials said, a major setback for a campaign that international health officials consider vital to contain the crippling disease but which Taliban insurgents say is a cover for espionage.

Pakistan is one of only three countries where polio is endemic. Militants however accuse health workers of acting as spies for the U.S. and claim the vaccine makes children sterile. Taliban commanders in the troubled northwest tribal region have also said vaccinations can’t go forward until the U.S. stops drone strikes in the country.

The women who were killed Tuesday — three of whom were teenagers — were all shot in the head at close range.

2 inmates use rope, escape high-rise jail

chicago

A massive manhunt is under way for two bank robbers who pulled off a daring escape from downtown Chicago’s high-rise jail Tuesday by apparently squeezing through a narrow window and scaling down about 20 stories using a makeshift rope.

Police helicopters and canine units swarmed the area, but not until more than three hours after Joseph “Jose” Banks and Kenneth Conley went unaccounted for during a 5 a.m. headcount. It’s unclear if the men were still inside the 27-story facility at that time, U.S. Marshals Service spokeswoman Belkis Cantor said.

Iraqi president suffers a stroke

baghdad, iraq

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has suffered a stroke and was in intensive care at a Baghdad hospital Tuesday, injecting new uncertainty into the country’s political future a year after the U.S. military left.

Although his official powers are limited, Talabani, 79, is respected by many Iraqis as a rare unifying figure seen as able to rise above the ethnic and sectarian rifts that still divide the country.

The severity of Talabani’s stroke remains unclear. His spokesman said Talabani is in stable condition.

9/11 cancer study doesn’t settle debate over risks

chicago

The most comprehensive study of potential World Trade Center-related cancers raises more questions than it answers and won’t end a debate over whether the attacks were really a cause.

The study suggests possible links with prostate, thyroid and a type of blood cancer among rescue and recovery workers exposed to toxic debris from the terrorist attacks. But there were few total cancers and even the study leaders say the results “should be interpreted with caution.”

The study involved nearly 56,000 people enrolled in a registry set up to monitor health effects from those exposed to the aftermath of the trade center attacks.

Panetta cites threats

washington

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned Congress Tuesday that the budget stalemate and lawmakers’ spending choices are among the greatest threats to the U.S. military today, increasing the stress on the force and making it difficult to fund programs that best keep troops ready to fight.

Panetta said defense officials have built a budget that tries to protect military readiness while also providing needed services to troops who have been involved in wars for more than 11 years.

Associated Press