Rebels kidnap gold prospectors

Rebels kidnap gold prospectors

BOGOTA, Colombia

Leftist rebels kidnapped five gold prospectors doing exploratory drilling for a Canadian company — a Canadian, two Peruvians and two Colombians — before dawn Friday in a northern province, officials said.

Toronto-based Braeval Mining Corp. said the five — three company employees and two consultants — were working at its Snow Mine gold and silver project. It did not further identify them.

The men were seized about 5 a.m. by about two dozen rebels of the leftist National Liberation Army, Colombia’s second-largest insurgency, in a rural area of the Bolivar state municipality of Norosi, said armed forces commander Gen. Alejandro Navas.

ACLU drops challenge to law

WICHITA, Kan.

The American Civil Liberties Union ended its legal challenge Friday to a Kansas law restricting private health insurance coverage for abortions.

A court filing shows the parties have agreed to dismiss all remaining claims, with each side bearing its own costs and attorneys’ fees.

The agreement follows a federal judge’s Jan. 7 ruling that, as a matter of law, the ACLU failed to provide any evidence that the Legislature’s predominant motivation in passing the 2011 law was to make it more difficult to get abortions.

Islamists retreat from positions

NIONO, Mali

Islamist rebels withdrew from their forward positions on both of Mali’s war fronts Friday, an apparent sign that they’ll be shifting tactics after heavy French aerial bombardment pounded their positions even in civilian residential areas.

The Malian military announced that it had regained control of Konna, the city whose fall last week prompted the French to send troops and air power to the West African nation.

The Islamists also pulled out of the town of Diabaly, which they’d taken Monday, after days of intense aerial bombardment. Malian troops were expected to occupy the town Friday night.

Newspaper removes gun-permit data

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.

A suburban New York newspaper that outraged gun owners by posting the names and addresses of residents with handgun permits removed the information from its website Friday.

The Journal News took down the data just three days after the state enacted a gun-control law that included privacy provisions for permit holders.

The provisions were a reaction to interactive maps the newspaper published on LoHud.com that pinpointed thousands of permit holders in Westchester and Rockland counties.

Interior again delays ‘fracking rule’

WASHINGTON

The Interior Department again is delaying a proposed rule that would require companies drilling for oil and natural gas on federal lands to publicly disclose chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations.

The Obama administration first proposed a “fracking” rule last May, with a final rule expected by the end of the year. Officials later revised the time line to early 2013. On Friday, the department pushed the deadline back again, announcing plans for a second draft version by the end of March, with publication of a final rule not expected until late 2013.

Interior Department spokesman Blake Androff said the administration is committed to responsible expansion of domestic oil and gas production, but said it is important that the public have confidence that proper environmental protections are in place.

Combined dispatches