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Published: January 5, 2009
Sri Lankan forces push toward last strongholds
KILINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka -- Battle tanks rumbled north, attack helicopters flew overheard and artillery fire roared through the jungles as Sri Lankan forces pushed ahead yesterday with an offensive aimed at capturing the Tamil Tigers' last strongholds and crushing the rebel group.
A rebel-affiliated Web site reported that the insurgents stalled a military advance on the road to its northeastern stronghold of Mullaittivu killing 43 soldiers and wounding 80 others yesterday, two days after the military seized the rebels' administrative capital of Kilinochchi.
The government led a victory tour of the newly seized areas in the north, providing journalists a rare glimpse of the war zone and the damage left behind.
The army was using Paranthan Junction, a strategic crossroads the military captured Thursday, as a staging area to send troops into the fight for two of the biggest prizes remaining in the battle, the rebel-held areas of Elephant Pass to the north and Mullaittivu to the east.
Russia's gas company says it is raising price for Ukraine
MOSCOW -- Russia's state-controlled gas company said yesterday that it was raising the price it wants Ukraine to pay for natural gas, hardening its position in a dispute that has decreased supplies to Europe.
Alexei Miller, the CEO of Gazprom, said that Gazprom wants $450 per 1,000 cubic meters, up from its last offer of $418.
Ukraine's state gas company accused Gazprom of being unwilling to seek a compromise and said that any price increase should be accompanied by a similar increase in the fee Ukraine gets from Russia to move gas through its pipelines on to European customers.
Two foreign journalists freed in Somalia after six weeks
MOGADISHU, Somalia -- Two foreign journalists -- a Briton and a Spaniard -- were released in good health yesterday after nearly six weeks in captivity in Somalia, officials said.
The journalists, reporter Colin Freeman, 39, of The Sunday Telegraph and freelance photographer Jose Cendon, 34, were working on a piracy story when they were kidnapped Nov. 26.
The Sunday Telegraph's publisher confirmed that the two journalists had been freed.
"This is wonderful news and we are delighted that the two journalists will soon be reunited with their families, friends and colleagues," Telegraph Media Group said in a statement in London. The company would not say whether a ransom had been paid.
In a story published on its Web site, the newspaper quoted Freeman as saying that the two "are absolutely fine.... We've absolutely no problems at all either physically or mentally."
Suicide bomber in Pakistan kills 7 in attack on police
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan -- A suicide bomber attacked police yesterday in northwest Pakistan as they rushed to treat civilians injured by an earlier explosion, killing seven people and wounding at least 25 others, a police official said.
The bomber attacked police investigating a minor explosion in the town of Dera Ismail Khan near the Afghan border, said Sanaullah Khan.
Five police officials and two civilians were killed by the second bomb and 16 police were among the wounded, Khan said.
Six suspected militants were arrested in the raid on a house in the Khyber tribal region, the army media center said. The army also found suicide jackets, rockets, assault rifles and improvised bombs in the house.
Boater questioned in death of American in Brazil
SAO PAULO, Brazil -- A man suspected of piloting a motorboat that struck and killed a New York winery owner as he swam off Brazil's coast was briefly detained yesterday, police said.
Christian Wolffer, 70, the owner of the Wolffer Estate winery, bled to death after suffering two deep cuts on his back while swimming on New Year's Eve near the colonial town of Paraty, about 100 miles west of Rio de Janeiro, police inspector Marcos Cerqueira said.
He said the cuts were caused by the propeller of a passing motorboat, and police have detained the man for questioning who was believed to be piloting the boat.
"Wolffer's death was accidental and whoever caused it will be charged with manslaughter," he said.
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