World in brief: Solstice draws mob to Stonehenge
Thousands of modern-day druids, pagans and partygoers converged on Stonehenge early today as people across the northern hemisphere prepared to welcome the summer solstice – the longest day of the year.
The ancient stones were bathed in a brilliant purple light hours before dawn as screaming, chanting revelers staggered between the ancient stones amid the sound of drums and whistles.
An estimated 20,000 people were expected to crowd around the site in Wiltshire, in southwestern England, to witness the sun rise.
Solstice celebrations were a highlight of the pre-Christian calendar. People in many countries still celebrate with bonfires, maypole dances, and courtship rituals.
In more recent years, New Age groups and others have turned to Stonehenge to celebrate the solstice, and the World Heritage Site has become a magnet for those seeking a spiritual experience – or just wanting to have a good time.
But the celebrations can also attract their share of troublemakers. Police closed the site in 1984 after repeated clashes with revelers. English Heritage, the monument’s caretaker, began allowing full access to the site again in 2000.
Kabul, Afghanistan
Militant strikes kill 3 Canadian troops
Afghanistan’s surging violence left three Canadian soldiers and 21 suspected Taliban militants dead Wednesday, while insurgents grabbed control of another district headquarters in the south.
NATO said it was facing a seasonal escalation of militant operations, but dismissed recent suicide and bomb attacks as “militarily insignificant.”
The Canadian troops died when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb while on a supply mission between two checkpoints in Kandahar’s Panjwayi district, said Brig. Gen. Tim Grant, the head of Canadian forces in the country.
The latest deaths brought to 60 the number of Canadian troops killed in Afghanistan since deploying as part of the NATO-led force in 2002.
NATO and Afghan troops, meanwhile, clashed with militants in the same province and called in airstrikes, killing 21 suspected fighters.
Grozny, Russia
Russian soldiers clash with police
A gunbattle broke out Wednesday between traffic police and a Defense Ministry unit in the Chechen capital, leaving at least five people dead and six wounded, the regional Interior Ministry said.
The 15-minute fight broke out on Grozny’s western outskirts around 5:30 p.m. after traffic police stopped a car carrying soldiers from a special federal Defense Ministry unit called “West,” Chechen prosecutors and officials from the Interior Ministry said.
A police officer who witnessed the incident but refused to give his name since he was not authorized to speak to the media told the Associated Press that traffic police tried to test the soldier driving the car for alcohol, but the soldier refused and called for help.
Traffic police also summoned reinforcements and up to 200 armed soldiers and police officers had gathered at the scene when the gunbattle broke out, the police officer said. It was unclear what sparked the fighting.