Gwinnett Daily Post

Gunman in uniform kills 2 US soldiers

BAGHDAD - A gunman wearing an Iraqi army uniform opened fire on a U.S. military team Saturday, killing two American soldiers and wounding three, the U.S. military said, in an attack that could sharpen worries about militant infiltration in Iraq's security forces.

Iraqi officials described the attacker - who was killed in the gun battle - as a soldier who also served as a Sunni Muslim preacher for his unit near Mosul, one of the last urban strongholds for Sunni insurgents.

The ambush could increase pressure on the Shiite-led government to try to root out possible turncoats and slow efforts to bring Sunni militiamen into the police and military as rewards for helping battle al-Qaida in Iraq and other insurgent factions.

273 German police injured in May Day riots

BERLIN - More than 270 police officers were injured in this year's May Day riots in the German capital, prompting criticism Saturday of Berlin security officials and calls for more officers.

Though the majority of the 273 officers suffered only minor injuries Friday, 14 were badly enough hurt that they will need to take time off work, said Berlin police chief Dieter Glietsch. He did not have more specifics.

In all, 5,800 police officers were on hand to try to keep a lid on the violence that has become a yearly ritual in Berlin. They used tear gas, pepper spray and water cannon as some of the roughly 5,000 leftist demonstrators, marching under the motto 'capitalism is war and crisis,' threw stones and bottles.

NATO thwarts pirate hijacking, seizes dynamite

NAIROBI, Kenya - Special forces on a Portuguese warship seized explosives from suspected Somali pirates after thwarting an attack on an oil tanker, but later freed the 19 men. Hours later and hundreds of miles away, another band of pirates hijacked a cargo ship, a NATO spokesman said Saturday.

Pirates are now holding 17 ships and around 300 crew, including the Greek-owned cargo ship Ariana, hijacked overnight with its Ukrainian crew.

The attack on the Ariana, about 1,000 miles from the sea corridor NATO guards and the seizure of explosives from the group that attacked the crude oil tanker MV Kition may indicate the pirates are adapting their tactics as crews become better trained in counter-piracy measures.

16 militants, 2 Pakistani soldiers die in clash

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani forces repelled a mass assault on their outpost near the Afghan border Saturday in a battle that left 18 dead and shook claims by Pakistan's army to have regained control of a critical region.

A separate clash in the nearby Swat Valley piled pressure on a disputed peace deal there, while a Taliban commander suspected in attacks on trucks carrying supplies to NATO and U.S. troops in Afghanistan surrendered to authorities, officials said.

Under the peace deal, the government agreed to impose Islamic law in Swat and nearby areas to halt two years of bloody fighting. The controversial pact has been likened by the United States to surrender. It heralded a militant push into a neighboring district within 60 miles of Islamabad.

Doctor: 64 die in shelling of Sri Lanka hospital

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Sri Lankan forces shelled a makeshift hospital in the war zone Saturday, killing 64 civilians despite a pledge to stop using heavy weapons in its battle with the Tamil Tigers, a rebel-linked Web site said.

A health official in the war zone confirmed the hospital was hit twice by artillery throughout the day, though the official declined to say who was responsible. The military denied launching the attack.

Sri Lanka has come under increasing international pressure to halt its offensive against the rebels to safeguard the estimated 50,000 ethnic Tamil civilians trapped by the fighting.

Brazil: Floods leave 14 dead, 60K homeless

SAO PAULO - Officials say floods and mudslides from heavy rains in northeastern Brazil have killed at least 14 people in the last month and driven tens of thousands from their homes.

Regional Civil Defense departments report that at least 62,600 people are homeless in five northeastern states.

Maranhao has been the hardest hit, with some 40,700 people living in shelters and six dead.