-
1 of 10
-
2 of 10
-
3 of 10
-
4 of 10
-
5 of 10
-
6 of 10
-
7 of 10
-
8 of 10
-
9 of 10
-
10 of 10
Headlines
Archive
Comments
Story
World
8 killed, more than 70 injured by Baghdad car bombs
BAGHDAD, Iraq – In the first surge of violence since Iraq's politicians agreed on a new prime minister, eight car bombs struck Baghdad on Monday, an onslaught unusual not only for the number of explosions but also because none of them was triggered by a suicide attacker.
Police said the use of remote controls to set off the bombs differentiated them from the suicide explosions that Sunni Muslim insurgents often favored and suggested that the blasts were intended as warnings to the new government – though from whom was unclear. No one claimed responsibility.
Police said the explosions killed at least eight people and wounded more than 70, a surprisingly low toll, which they said also was due to the lack of suicide attackers.
None of the blasts targeted American troops, said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a U.S. military spokesman. At least some of them appeared aimed at passing Iraqi police patrols.
Johnson said car bombs had averaged 15 a week throughout Iraq in the past six weeks. He didn't have figures for Baghdad alone.
Two incidents accounted for most of the dead Monday. Five people were killed and another 25 were injured when car bombs detonated at the front and back gates of al-Mustansiriya University near Baghdad's Sadr City district, Ministry of Interior officials said. The first exploded as a police convoy passed, police said, while the second seemed intended to harm passers-by.
Three other people died when a car bomb exploded as a convoy of SUVs passed, probably holding foreigners, police said. They didn't identify the occupants of the vehicles further. At least 20 people were wounded.
Two parked cars exploded in central Baghdad, injuring 15 civilians, and two others exploded near the al-Ghaeer Bridge in eastern Baghdad, wounding four Iraqi soldiers. A homemade bomb hidden in a car in southern Baghdad also exploded, wounding nine people.
On Monday, the bodies of 15 men – all of whom had been shot in the head – were found piled in two pickups near the Sunni enclave of Abu Ghraib, police said. Nearly all were Sunnis.
Iraqi leaders began meeting to fill more Cabinet posts. Most important, U.S. and Iraqi leaders agree, is who will head the ministries of interior, which controls the security forces, and defense, which controls the army.
National
Professor's e-mail outrages Muslims
DETROIT – An Islamic student group at Michigan State University demanded Monday that university officials publicly reprimand a professor whose Feb. 28 e-mail called on Muslims who don't "like the values of the West" to leave the United States.
But MSU officials said there's little that can be done to punish Indrek Wichman, 55, a tenured professor of mechanical engineering, because his comments essentially constitute free speech. Wichman sent the message to the Muslim Students' Association of Michigan State University while it handed out free cocoa during a public awareness event about controversial cartoons that depicted Islam's founder as a terrorist.
"I am offended not by cartoons, but by more mundane things like beheadings of civilians, cowardly attacks on public buildings, suicide murders," Wichman wrote.
He went on to say: "I counsul you dissatisfied, agressive, brutal, and uncivilized slave-trading Moslems to be very aware of this as you proceed with your infantile `protests.'"
The Muslim Students' Association, along with 12 other student and advocacy groups, called Monday for the university to issue a letter of reprimand. They have met several times with university officials since Feb. 28 and went public with the e-mail Monday because the school had not acted.
Terry Denbow, spokesman for MSU, said Wichman's views in no way represent the university's views. But, he said, they do not violate the university's anti-discrimination policy.
"He was cautioned that any additional commentary … could constitute the creation of a hostile environment, and that could … form the basis of a complaint" under the policy, Denbow said.
He said he considers the comments "very inappropriate. And I personally wish he would apologize to the students."
In addition to a reprimand, the student group wants the university to implement diversity training programs for faculty and a mandatory freshman seminar on hate and discrimination.
Boise State Student Named National Phi Kappa Phi Graduate Fellow
Kasey Reed, a history major at Boise State University with a minor in Latin language and literature, has been awarded a prestigious national Phi Kappa Phi graduate fellowship for 2006-2007. The award includes $5,000 toward a graduate program in history. Reed is one of only 60 awardees nationwide and the only one from an Idaho institution.
Reed, from Garden Valley, is student vice president of the Boise State chapter of Phi Kappa Phi. In addition, she is president of the Boise State chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, treasurer of the BSU chapter of the Golden Key Honor Society and vice president for community service for the Honors Student Association.
Reed, who received nine awards or scholarships while studying at Boise State, was recently named a university Top Ten Scholar. She has traveled internationally in pursuit of her studies of Latin language and Roman history and presented her research at the Phi Alpha Theta Northwest regional conference. Reed has done volunteer work for relief efforts for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, the Boise River cleanup, the Idaho Food Bank and Boise State’s Volunteer Services Board. She will graduate from Boise State May 13.
Phi Kappa Phi is the oldest and largest national honor society dedicated to the recognition and promotion of academic excellence.
What the?
Come on, what could possibly go wrong?
Three Russian fishermen took the train from Vladivostok to Ussurisk and brought some dynamite with them to blast fish out of the water. Alas, the explosives went off prematurely, causing heavy damage to the train.
Will you be having the haddock or the flounder
To combat a rat infestation in their village, villagers in Sanjiang, China, bought 250 cats and set them loose in the fields. The cats did such a good job in eradicating the vermin that the farmers gave them a fish banquet.