Iranians mark anniversary of takeover

Thousands of Iranians demonstrated Sunday to celebrate the 28th anniversary of the takeover of the U.S. Embassy by militant students, state television reported.

Demonstrators in the capital, Tehran, including elementary school students, gathered outside the former U.S. Embassy, chanting anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli slogans.

They burned the two countries’ flags and warned Washington to learn from the hostile incident.

The takeover, which occurred during Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution, severely damaged relations between the two countries.

The 52 Americans held hostage during the crisis were returned after 444 days, but the U.S. cut off diplomatic ties with Iran to protest the incident.

State television showed video footage of the takeover Sunday and images of the American hostages.

Relations between the two countries continue to be incredibly tense, with the U.S. accusing Iran of covertly developing nuclear weapons and supporting Shiite militias in Iraq – charges Tehran denies.

KABUL, Afghanistan

Karzai: U.S. saved thousands of kids

Six years after the Taliban’s ouster, medical care in Afghanistan has improved such that nearly 90,000 children who would have died before age 5 in 2001 will survive this year, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Sunday.

Saddled for years with one of the world’s worst records on child health, Afghanistan has seen access to health care rise dramatically since the U.S.-led invasion.

Thousands of health clinics have been built across the country, and the Afghan government and aid agencies have trained tens of thousands of doctors, vaccinators and health volunteers who now reach into some of the country’s most remote areas.

The under-5 child mortality rate in Afghanistan has declined from an estimated 257 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2001 to about 191 per 1,000 in 2006, a 25-percent drop, the Ministry of Public Health said, relying on a new study from Johns Hopkins University.

From wire reports