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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2012
PAGE 3A
NEWS OF THE WORLD
ASIA
Associated Press
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Taliban attacks Pakistanis
A Pakistani army soldier arranges weapons reportedly recovered from hideouts of militants in tribal areas, as they are displayed in Peshawar, Pakistan on Wednesday.
ISLAMADAD — Taliban militants ambushed a Pakistani army post near the Afghan border before dawn Wednesday, killing eight soldiers, in a reminder of the threat posed by insurgents despite numerous military offensives against them.
ered the toll to eight.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on the post. The group's spokesman, Ahsanullah Ahsan, claimed they killed 12 soldiers and beheaded some of them.
The attack occurred in the South Waziristan tribal area, once the main stronghold for the Pakistani Taliban, a military official said. The military launched a large offensive against militants there in 2009, but insurgents still operate in the area and periodically stage attacks.
In addition to the eight soldiers killed, six others were wounded in the ambush near Ghatbadr village in the Shakai Valley, the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media. The attack started around midnight and lasted for several hours, he said.
The assault followed the start of a new army operation to rout militants from the area, the official said. During the operation over the last
two days, soldiers killed 18 militants and destroyed seven of their hideouts. Another 21 militants were wounded, according to the official.
The official initially said nine soldiers were killed but later low-
The differing accounts could not be independently verified.
The military has conducted offensives against the Pakistani Taliban in six of the seven areas that make up Pakistan's semiautonomous tribal region along the Afghan border.
The U.S. said recently that Islamabad plans to launch an operation against the Pakistani Taliban in the last major militant sanctuary in the region, North Waziristan. But Pakistan military officials have downplayed the comments, saying they intend to slowly ratchet up the pressure on militants in North Waziristan rather than launch a sweeping offensive.
Many Pakistani Taliban fighters fled to North Waziristan and other parts of the tribal region following the 2009 army operation in South Waziristan.
The U.S. has criticized Pakistan for refusing to target militants who use North Waziristan as a base to attack coalition forces in Afghanistan.
EUROPE
Wandering stray dogs kill 4 kangaroos in zoo
SARAJIEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Officials say stray dogs entered the Sarajevo zoo, killed four kangaroos and injured another before guards could chase them away.
Zoo veterinarian Vedad Skapulj told The Associated Press that the dogs entered the kangaroo habitat in early Wednesday morning.
The canines apparently came from the forest searching for water, which is in short supply because a months-long drought has dried up
local creeks.
The guards were able to save the life of the fifth kangaroo, which is now recovering. It is the last kangaroo at the zoo, which is located on Sarajevo's outskirts.
Skapulj叫 the incident a "tragedy." He says the zoo's management has wanted to get rid of some fences and modernize the facility but that stray dogs in the area have complicated those plans.
MIDDLE EAST
Explosives discovered near Egyptian college
EL-ARISH, Egypt — An Egyptian security official says authorities have discovered a bag packed with explosives planted next to a university in the Sinai Peninsula.
The official says the explosives were found Wednesday next to Sinai University in the northern city of el-Arish near Egypt's border with Gaza and Israel. Bomb experts defused the device, which included land mines and gasoline and was
wired to explode.
He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.
The discovery highlights the continuing challenges facing Egyptian authorities in the largely lawless Sinai, where several villages and towns have turned into strongholds of Islamist extremists and those who adhere to an al-Qaida-like ideology.
SOUTH AMERICA
Argentina tops tango world again
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Argentina's Jose Luis Medina and Maria Natalia Liendo Jimenez, top, compete during the 2012 Tango Dance World Cup stage finals in Buenos Aires.
BUENOS AIRES — Argentine couples recovered their dominance of the world's top tango dancing competition, sweeping both the Salon Tango and Stage Tango categories as the annual festival drew to a close.
Cristian Sosa and Maria Sciuto won Tuesday night's stage final with a score of 8.42, followed by four other Argentine couples at the top of an international field. Five Argentine couples also came out on top in the Salon competition the night before, besting a total of 487 couples from 32 countries.
Couples from Japan and Russia, Colombia and the United States have frequently wowed the judges in previous finals, but this year none managed to impress the panel as much as the hometown couples who danced before thousands of fans in the Luna Park stadium in the Argentine capital.
To the rhythm of *El Gordo Triste* (The Sad Fat Man), the
champions swirled across the floor, smoothly nailing the genre's classic formis — untranslatable moves such as the "boleos," "ganchos" and the passionate embrace known as the "abrazo milonguo."
As with the winners of Monday night's Salon Tango final, Sosa and Sciuta left the stage with $8,600 and two tickets to Paris to perform there.
The much anticipated final was dedicated to two of the best-known ambassadors of the genre: bandoneonista and composor Aster Piazzolla, who died 20 years earlier, and dancer Nieves.
Drummer Daniel "Pipi" Piazzolla, Astor's grandson, interpreted along with several other young musicians two songs first performed by the Electronic Octet, a fusion of tango and rock led by the elder Piazzolla in the 1970s, and Nieves shared a dance with the champions of nine previous world tango competitions.
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