In brief: Insurgents attack two NATO bases

Kabul, Afghanistan – Afghan police said insurgents launched a pair of pre-dawn attacks on NATO bases in eastern Afghanistan early today.

There was no word on casualties in the attacks on the sprawling Forward Operating Base Salerno in Khost province and nearby Camp Chapman, where a suicide bomber in December killed seven CIA employees.

Maj. Wazir Pacha of the provincial police headquarters said attackers used heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but had been beaten back into cornfields surrounding the bases.

He said police had captured a pickup truck laden with ammunition as well as a light truck packed with explosives that had become stuck in deep mud.

Political satire crackdown voided

Brasilia, Brazil – Brazil’s Supreme Court suspended a rule banning radio and television comedians and programs from producing political satire about parties and their candidates in the October election.

The preliminary decision was made late Thursday, when Supreme Court Judge Ayres Britto ruled that a 1997 law does not warrant censorship of Brazilian media. That would be unconstitutional, the judge said.

He further argued that the electoral process is not a state of emergency, the only situation that would warrant restricting freedom of opinion.

Britto’s decision was a response to a request filed Wednesday by the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television

The 1997 law establishes fines of up to $60,000 for media that broadcast any “audio or video resources which in any way degrade or ridicule candidates, political parties or coalitions” in an election.

Brazil’s comics held a protest Sunday in Rio de Janeiro, to demand that the law be repealed.

Peshawar, Pakistan – A heavy exchange of fire erupted today at an office of security forces in northwest Pakistan, but the motive behind the attack was not immediately clear, police said.

Police official Dost Mohammed said it was unclear who fired at the office of the security forces in Peshawar, the capital of troubled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where militants often target police and security forces. Troops immediately surrounded the area of the attack, he said.

The area where the incident happened is located near the American Consulate, but police said that building was not the target of the attack. TV footage showed commandos and police surrounding the consulate and checking vehicles.