In brief: Whale led from glitzy marina

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Argentine authorities have successfully guided a whale out of the marina of a glitzy area in Buenos Aires and hope that it will now return to sea.

The whale appeared in the marina Monday afternoon, periodically surfacing next to yachts while hundreds of onlookers gawked.

Roxana Schteinbarg, the executive coordinator of the Whale Conservation Institute in Argentina, said the whale appears to be a 2-year-old humpback. She said it was likely making its first migration without its mother and got disoriented.

Chopper crash kills 16 police officers

BOGOTA, Colombia – Sixteen Colombian police officers died Tuesday when their Black Hawk helicopter crashed while taking part in a manhunt for the nation’s most-wanted drug trafficker, the second deadly air accident affecting the U.S.-trained military in less than a week.

Two other uniformed personnel were in critical condition and being treated for serious burns.

Authorities attributed the crash to bad weather. But the location, in a dense jungle near the Gulf of Uraba dominated by drug traffickers and also a refuge for leftist rebels, immediately fueled speculation the helicopter may have been fired on.

Police said the Black Hawk was part of a mission hunting Dairo Otoniel Usaga, leader of Colombia’s most violent drug-smuggling gang. Since February, authorities with the support of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration have intensified the manhunt for Otoniel, for whose capture the United States has offered a $5 million reward.

India lifts ban on porn websites

MUMBAI, India – Bowing to a public outcry, the Indian government on Tuesday said it would lift a days-old ban on hundreds of pornographic websites after critics accused the government of encroaching on personal freedoms.

Over the weekend, Indian authorities ordered Internet providers to block 857 websites deemed to carry pornographic material, saying the ban was needed to protect public morality.

But the order drew outrage and ridicule, particularly after many of the websites were found not to feature any pornography, and even Indian officials acknowledged the ban could be subverted by readily available Internet tools.

Information and Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said late Tuesday “the ban will be partially withdrawn” and only sites that carry child pornography would remain blocked.