Afghan forces shoot, kill 3 NATO troops

Afghan forces shoot, kill 3 NATO troops

kabul

Afghan security forces shot and killed three international troops Monday, one of them an American, in two attacks. They were the latest in a rising number of attacks in which Afghan forces have turned their weapons on their foreign partners.

The killings reflect a spike in tensions between Afghan and international forces that follow an American soldier’s alleged massacre of Afghan civilians, the burning of Muslim holy books at a U.S. base, and uncertainty about Afghanistan’s fate as foreign troops prepare to pull out.

Pope arrives in Cuba

santiago, cuba

Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Cuba on Monday in the footsteps of his more- famous predecessor, gently pressing the island’s longtime communist leaders to push through “legitimate” reforms their people desire, while also criticizing the excesses of capitalism.

In contrast to the raucous welcome Benedict received in Mexico, his arrival in Cuba’s second city was relatively subdued: While President Raul Castro greeted him at the airport with a 21-cannon salute and military honor guard, few ordinary Cubans lined Benedict’s motorcade route into town and the pope barely waved from his glassed-in popemobile.

Officials: Spy chiefs bargain over drones

washington

In a bid to save the CIA’s drone campaign against al-Qaida in Pakistan, U.S. officials offered key concessions to Pakistan’s spy chief that included advance notice and limits on the types of targets. But the offers were flatly rejected, leaving US-Pakistani relations strained as President Barack Obama prepares to meet today with Pakistan’s prime minister.

CIA Director David Petraeus, who met with Pakistan’s then-spy chief, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha at a meeting in London in January, offered to give Pakistan advance notice of future CIA drone strikes against targets on its territory in a bid to keep Pakistan from blocking the strikes — arguably one of the most potent U.S. tools against al-Qaida.

Pasha said then what Pakistani officials and its parliament have repeated in recent days: that Pakistan will no longer brook independent U.S. action on its territory by CIA drones, two Pakistani officials said. All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations.

Egg hunt canceled

colorado springs, colo.

An annual Easter egg hunt attended by hundreds of children has been canceled because of misbehavior last year. Not by the kids, but by the grown-ups.

Too many parents determined to see their children get an egg jumped a rope marking the boundaries of the children-only hunt at Bancroft Park last year. The hunt was over in seconds, to the consternation of eggless tots and rule-abiding parents.

Tibetan lights self on fire in protest

new delhi

A Tibetan exile lit himself on fire and ran shouting through a demonstration in the Indian capital Monday, just before a visit by China’s president and after dozens of self-immolations done in China in protest of its rule over Tibet.

He was engulfed in flames when he ran past the podium where speakers were criticizing China and President Hu Jintao’s visit.

Fellow activists beat out the flames with Tibetan flags and poured water onto him. He was burned on 98 percent of his body and his condition is critical, one group said.

Associated Press