Posted on Sun, Aug. 24, 2008
Activists defy Israeli blockade
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Two boats carrying dozens of international activists sailed into the Gaza Strip yesterday in defiance of an Israeli blockade, receiving a jubilant welcome from thousands of Palestinians. On one of the boats, "End Occupation" was written in large letters and Palestinian flags snapped in the wind.
The boats docked in Gaza City's tiny port after a two-day journey marred by communications troubles and rough seas. As they arrived, children swarmed around and leaped into the water in joy, while thousands of cheering residents looked on from the shore.
Under the closure imposed in June 2007 after Hamas violently seized power in Gaza, Israel has allowed little more than basic humanitarian supplies into the strip, causing widespread shortages of fuel, electricity and basic goods.
- AP
Militants seize Somalian city
MOGADISHU, Somalia - Islamic militants said yesterday that they had seized control of Somalia's third-largest city after three days of fighting that left about 70 people dead and forced thousands to flee Kismayo.
The Islamic courts movement, which controlled the capital, Mogadishu, and much of the south for six months in 2006, said it wrested control of the southern port city of Kismayo from clan militias.
"Medicine is scarce and there is only one doctor and a few nurses. That shows how we are unable to cope," said Ali Hassan, the doctor at Kismayo Hospital. Later yesterday, the International Committee of the Red Cross delivered by plane two tons of medical supplies to the hospital, a spokeswoman said.
- AP
Mexico police nab cartel suspect
TIJUANA, Mexico - Mexican police said they chased a suspected drug cartel hit man through the streets of Tijuana and into a crowded casino, arresting him and an accomplice after hundreds of frightened gamblers were ordered to the floor.
Mexico's federal Public Security Department said the suspects arrested Friday are believed to be Ruben Rios Estrada, a key gunman for the Arellano-Felix cocaine cartel, and Hector Manuel Mora Mendoza, another suspected gang member. They were flown to Mexico City under heavy guard, the agency said.
The casino company - owned by former Tijuana Mayor Jorge Hank Rhon - complained that the raid by masked, heavily armed police terrified and endangered about 1,300 patrons. Federal police said they found a shotgun, two pistols, hundreds of bullets and five shirts emblazoned with police insignia in the suspects' vehicle.
- AP
Elsewhere:
Armed pirates in speedboats ambushed two ships off Somalia's coast yesterday but failed to hijack them after one of the vessels sped away and the other was rescued by a military patrol aircraft, an official said.
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