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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Gunships attack militant hide-out

The Spokesman-Review

Pakistani security forces backed by helicopter gunships struck a militant hide-out today in a tribal region near the Afghan border, killing or wounding at least 25 militants, an official said.

The militants had entered Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal region after a raid inside Afghanistan. Army troops and three helicopter gunships attacked them, said Syed Zaheerul Islam, the top government administrator of the region.

Beijing

Panel’s end called ‘dangerous step’

Chinese President Hu Jintao accused the Taiwanese leader of taking a “dangerous step” toward independence and warned Tuesday that Beijing will never let the self-ruled island break with the communist mainland.

A stern series of Chinese statements, however, refrained from repeating Beijing’s threats to attack Taiwan, which it claims as part of its territory. The United States and Japan urged both sides to resume talks.

The Chinese criticism came in response to Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian’s decision Monday to abolish a committee responsible for unifying the island and the mainland.

Jerusalem

Palestinians need funds, U.N. says

The United Nations warned Tuesday that Israel and the West could unleash a crisis in Palestinian territories by withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and transfers.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs cautioned that an Israeli decision to cut off taxes and customs duties collected on behalf of the Palestinians could bring the Palestinian government to the brink of collapse by limiting its ability to provide basic services such as health, education, utilities, sanitation and policing.

The flow of money has been jeopardized by the Islamic militant group Hamas’ landslide victory in Jan. 25 Palestinian elections.

Israel’s Cabinet decided this month to stop sending the Palestinian Authority roughly $55 million in taxes and customs duties it collects on its behalf each month on imports and from Palestinian merchants and laborers working in Israel.

Montreal

Priests denounce Vatican gay stance

In a rare public dissent, 19 Catholic priests have denounced the Vatican’s opposition to gay marriage and allowing homosexuals into the priesthood.

The clerics signed an open letter that ran Sunday in Montreal’s La Presse newspaper, criticizing the church’s positions on the issues.

The priests said the church was invoking “natural law” to make its case against homosexuality, arguing that slavery was also once considered “natural.”

“What we are saying is that human nature is constantly evolving,” Claude Lemieux, one of the signatories, said Tuesday. “We believe this position is closer to that which is shared by our parishioners.”