LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY “Yesterday and today they have
been trying to go forward, but there are
lots of shelling and airstrikes.”
Abu al-Hassan, an activist in Aleppo, Syria, who said rebels are trying to clear the army from residential
areas near a police academy before they attack it
Article, this pageUnion chief held;
Mexico cites theft
MEXICO CITY - The head of Mexico’s powerful teachers’ union was arrested at an airport near Mexico City Tuesday on charges of embezzlement, with federal officials accusing her of using union funds to pay for plastic surgery, buy a house in San Diego and pay her bill at Neiman Marcus.
Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam said Elba Esther Gordillo, who has led the 1.5 million-member National Union of Education Workers for 23 years, was detained in Toluca on charges that she embezzled about $160 million from union funds.
Gordillo, long seen as a kingmaker and power behind the scenes in Mexican politics, was flown to the attorney general’s hangar in the Mexico City airport, where she asked to be checked by a doctor, Murillo said.
Murillo said that Gordillo, 68, was in good health and awaiting transfer to appear before a judge. Two other people also were arrested but they were not named.
Officer escorting polio team slain
PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Gunmen shot and killed a police officer Tuesday who was protecting a team of polio workers during a U.N.-backed vaccination campaign in northwestern Pakistan.
It was the latest of several attacks on Pakistani efforts to eradicate the deadly disease, found in only three countries in the world. Militant extremists view the vaccination campaigns as Western-backed plots to gain intelligence in sensitive areas and have frequently targeted the medical staff and those protecting polio teams.
No polio workers were wounded in Tuesday’s attack in the Mardan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said police officer Fazal Wahid. At least two attackers were hiding in a field near a narrow road as the polio workers walked by on their way to visit houses in the area, said Mardan Police Chief Inam Jan.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack and it wasn’t immediately known whether the police officer was targeted because he was protecting the polio team or for some other reason.
Gaza group fires rocket at Israel
JERUSALEM - Gaza militants Tuesday fired a rocket into Israel for the first time in three months, rattling a cross-border truce that has held since Israel’s military offensive against the Hamasrun territory.
Israel closed Gaza’s main cargo crossing until further notice, an apparent warning to Gaza’s Hamas rulers to clamp down on rocket squads.
“Quiet will be met with quiet, missiles will be met with a response,” said Israeli President Shimon Peres, adding that he believes that both sides “have a deep interest in lowering the flames.”
Militants claiming affiliation with the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a violent offshoot of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah, movement took responsibility.
They said in an e-mail to journalists that they fired the rocket to avenge the death of a Palestinian in Israeli custody. It was impossible to independently verify the claim of responsibility.
Front Section, Pages 6 on 02/27/2013