World in brief: US soldier dies in Afghan fighting

KABUL, Afghanistan – Four NATO service members – including one American – were killed in action Monday, the deadliest day for the international force in more than two weeks.

The American service member, who was not identified, died in a roadside bombing in southern Afghanistan, the NATO command announced.

Two British soldiers also died in bomb blasts during a foot patrol in the south, the main theater of the war. The British Ministry of Defense said the soldiers were attacked near Malgir, in Helmand province.

Spain’s Defense Ministry said one Spanish soldier was killed and six were wounded when their vehicle struck a bomb while escorting a U.N. relief convoy near Qali-i-Naw, 340 miles west of Kabul

That made Monday the deadliest day for the allied force since Jan. 13, when four American service members were killed in three separate attacks around the country.

Pirates free crew and cargo ship

ATHENS, Greece – Somali pirates freed a Greek-owned cargo ship Monday and its 22-member crew held since November after receiving a ransom payment, officials in Greece said.

A coast guard statement said the Filitsa was heading for the Kenyan port of Mombasa along with its crew – three Greeks, 18 Filipinos and a Romanian. Officials said the crew members were all in good health.

The ship’s owner, Order Shipping, confirmed that a ransom had been paid but refused to declare the sum.

The Marshall Islands-flagged vessel was seized Nov. 11 in the Gulf of Aden, while carrying a cargo of fertilizer from Kuwait to the harbor of Durban in South Africa.

Despite patrols by a multinational naval force off Somalian waters, Somali pirates seized 47 vessels last year, and are holding about 200 crew members hostage.

Teen fends off shark with board

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – A teenage New Zealand girl bitten by a shark bashed it over the head with her body board until it let her go, she said.

Lydia Ward, 14, was in waist-deep water with her brother on Monday at Oreti Beach on the country’s South Island when the shark – believed to be a broad-nosed seven gill shark – grabbed her hip. She said she did not notice the shark until the attack was under way.

“I saw my brother’s face and turned to the side and saw this large gray thing in the water so I just hit it on the head with a boogie board,” Ward told National Radio, adding that she had read about a surfer who fought off a shark attack with her board. “That’s what she did, and that’s what you’re meant to do.”

The pair fled from the water after the attack. The girl’s mother, Fiona Ward, said the shark’s bite had ripped Lydia’s wet suit and penetrated her skin, but the teen required no stitches.

Lydia, a former competitive swimmer and regular beach swimmer, said she would be sticking to rivers and lakes in the future.