Dozens of aftershocks expected in Alaska


Dozens of aftershocks expected in Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska

Dozens of noticeable aftershocks above magnitude 4.0 are expected in the remote Aleutian Island region off Alaska in the days and weeks after a major 7.0 earthquake, the Alaska state seismologist said Saturday.

A dozen measurable aftershocks already have hit the region since Friday’s quake, including one reaching 6.1 in strength, said seismologist Michael West. There have been more than 30 aftershocks measuring at least magnitude 2.5.

None of the aftershocks are expected to cause a notable tsunami, since the initial quake did not cause one.

Protesters rail against Iraqi officials’ pensions

BAGHDAD

Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Iraqi cities on Saturday to protest lawmakers’ perks despite an intense security crackdown, while bombing and shootings in and west of the capital killed 13 people in the latest bout of sectarian unrest rocking the country.

Protest organizers demanded an end to what they claim are generous pension benefits granted to members of parliament. Demonstrators also aired long-standing grievances about widespread corruption and the poor state of public services.

Egyptian forces arrest top militant

CAIRO

Egyptian security forces said they arrested a top wanted militant in the Sinai Peninsula on Saturday, while authorities reported a failed attempt to disrupt traffic on the strategic Suez Canal but gave scant detail.

Authorities have taken extra security measures to safeguard the waterway as lawlessness and violence gripped Sinai, where militants and smugglers rove relatively freely and target security forces and posts.

Egyptian authorities have heightened their security arrangements in recent weeks, in the wake of the military coup that ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi on July 3.

They accuse opponents of the coup of trying to destabilize the country, and have waged a security crackdown against members of the Muslim Brotherhood, from which Morsi hails, and other allies, arresting hundreds.

Smoke from fire reaches Yosemite

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif.

Dense smoke from a wildfire burning in and around Yosemite National Park on Saturday hampered both suppression efforts and the prized views sought by holiday-weekend tourists.

For the first time since the blaze broke out in a neighboring forest two weeks ago, smoke obscured Yosemite Valley, home to the park’s most-popular landmarks, spokeswoman Kari Cobb said.

All the campgrounds in the Valley still were full as of Saturday morning, despite the thick blanket and burning smell that permeated the area, she said.

As a health precaution, visitors were being asked to scale back their outdoor recreation plans and avoid strenuous activities or even stay indoors.

Meanwhile, firefighting aircraft were grounded most of the morning because of low visibility caused by the smoke, U.S. Forest Service spokesman Mark Healey said.

Assault hearing tabled

WASHINGTON

A military hearing on sexual- assault accusations against three U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen was postponed because the purported victim says she is too fatigued to testify.

The woman said she was tired at the start of the Saturday morning hearing at the Washington Navy Yard. The hearing will resume today.

The hearing is taking place to determine whether the three former football players will face a court-martial.

The woman purportedly was sexually assaulted at an April 2012 party after a night of heavy drinking. She says she doesn’t remember having sex with the men.

Juvenile sentenced in fatal India gang rape

NEW DELHI

An Indian juvenile court on Saturday handed down the first conviction in the fatal gang rape of a young woman on a moving New Delhi bus, convicting a teenager of rape and murder and sentencing him to three years in a reform home, lawyers said.

The victim’s parents denounced the sentence, which was the maximum the defendant faced. The family had long insisted the teen, who was 17 at the time of the December attack and is now 18, be tried as an adult — and thus face the death penalty — insisting he was the most brutal of the woman’s attackers.

Associated Press

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