QUOTE OF THE DAY “It’s a gloomy day, not just for the gay community in Uganda but for all Ugandans who care about human rights, because this law will affect everybody.” Julian Peppe Onziema, an advocate for gay rights in Uganda, on the signing of a bill that punishes some homosexual acts with life imprisonment Article, this page Angry Afghans grieve for slain soldiers
KABUL, Afghanistan - A public outpouring of grief mixed with patriotic anger whipped through Afghanistan on Monday in the aftermath of the killings of 21 Afghan soldiers by Taliban insurgents in Kunar province.
Flown into Kabul by helicopter, the victims’ bodies were laid in repose at the military hospital there, in coffins draped with the Afghan flag and topped with bouquets of plastic flowers, as an honor guard stood at attention and a military band played a dirge.
Much of the public anger was directed at President Hamid Karzai, who did not attend the memorial but canceled a planned trip to Sri Lanka in response to the attack, which he condemned “in the strongest possible terms.”
People seemed particularly outraged by the manner of the soldiers’ deaths. All were reportedly shot in their sleep after Taliban insurgents overran their base in the Ghaziabad district on Sunday morning. The governor of Kunar province, Shuja al-Mulk Jalala, said the guards on duty were apparently Taliban sympathizers and let them enter the base. It was the deadliest attack against the Afghan National Army since 2010.
Guzman files to block extradition to U.S.
MEXICO CITY - Lawyers for drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman have filed an appeal seeking an injunction against any attempt to extradite him to the United States, a federal court announced Monday.
Mexican drug suspects have used such appeals in the past to delay extraditions for months or even years, though most eventually lose the appeals.
On Sunday, Guzman was also formally charged with violations of Mexico’s drug-trafficking laws, starting a legal trial process in Mexico that would also make a swift extradition to the U.S. less likely.
Guzman was charged with cocaine trafficking Sunday inside a maximum-security prison outside the nation’s capital, Mexico’s Federal Judicial Council announced. A judge has until today to decide whether to release him or start the process of bringing him to trial. Authorities believe the judge will launch the trial process, a Mexican federal official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.
Guzman can appeal the judge’s decision, a process that typically takes weeks or month.
Gunmen kill Taliban leader in Pakistan
BANNU, Pakistan - Gunmen killed a top leader of the Pakistani Taliban in a tribal region near the Afghan border Monday, intelligence officials and militant commanders said.
Asmatullah Shaheen Bitani and three aides died in a shooting in the Darga Mandi area of North Waziristan, the four officials and two militants said.
Bitani’s cousin also confirmed his death, saying that his family was preparing for a funeral and burial.
The officials said it was not clear if the killing was militant infighting, if Pakistani security forces killed him or if Bitani was shot by someone who wanted the $95,000 government bounty on him.
No one has claimed responsibility. The Taliban have not responded yet with any statement, which they usually make after such high-profile killings. All officials spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
Pakistan’s government recently started peace talks with the Taliban, but negotiations were suspended after 23 soldiers were killed by a faction of the militant group and a militant-claimed bombing in southern port city of Karachi killed 13 police officers.
Italian premier seeks Parliament support
ROME - Italian Premier Matteo Renzi pitched for support in Parliament on Monday ahead of mandatory confidence votes on his brand-new government but offered scant details to back his bet he can get the country back to work again after the last three premiers failed.
Renzi leads a broad coalition, including his dominant center-left Democrats, centrists and conservative forces that used to back Silvio Berlusconi, the scandal-scarred ex-premier.
In the Senate, Renzi should be able to muster a slim majority on his three-day-old government.
But there has been loud grumbling among his own Democrats over Renzi’s heavy-handed tactics to wrest the premiership from fellow Democrat Enrico Letta. His predecessor led a coalition with the same tense partners for 10 months, but Renzi engineered his ouster after industrialists and union leaders grew impatient with tentative efforts to energize the economy after years of stagnation.
Front Section, Pages 6 on 02/25/2014