MANILA, Philippines
Communist guerrillas kill 28
Associated Press
Communist guerrillas opened fire on a truckload of soldiers in a remote southern Philippine town, starting a gun battle that killed 18 soldiers and 10 rebels, military officials said yesterday.
Six other soldiers were wounded and one was missing after the three-hour shootout Saturday in Cateel town in Davao Oriental province, army spokesman Lt. Col. Jose Mabanta said.
He said the attackers, members of the New People's Army, made off with 21 weapons and dragged away the bodies of their dead. He called the ambush a "major accomplishment" for the rebel group, which has been waging a Marxist rebellion in the Philippines since the late 1960s.
The soldiers were attacked while en route to reinforce another army team that killed 15 guerrillas in a clash Friday in the area. Davao Oriental is about 60 miles southeast of Manila.
Communist rebels have intensified their attacks recently, taking advantage of the military's preoccupation with a major offensive against an extremist Muslim rebel group, Abu Sayyaf, on the southern island of Basilan. More than 7,000 soldiers have been deployed there.
The military has blamed communist guerrillas for recent attacks in which telecommunication facilities were burned, one of them near Davao and the others in the northern Philippines.
MOUNT WILSON, CALIF.
Leonid meteor shower dazzles stargazers
Associated Press
Thousands of shooting stars provided a dazzling light show yesterday that amazed veteran and novice stargazers alike as the Leonid meteor show made the moonless sky appear to rain light.
At the peak of the early morning shower, as many as 1,250 meteors per hour streaked overhead, according to NASA estimates.
Atop Mount Wilson, hundreds of cars clogged the road leading to the observatory high above the Los Angeles basin as stargazers sought out dark spots to watch the display.
Patty Ronney, 49, said she had never seen a single meteor before leaving her El Segundo home late Saturday. Hours later, she had seen countless numbers.
"It's getting exciting, because the more I see, the more I want to see. It's such a novel event," Ronney said as she stood wrapped in a woolen poncho near the observatory.
Streak after streak of light shot across the sky as tiny bits of comet debris burned up harmlessly in the atmosphere. The brightest flares left shimmering, smoky trails that hung in the sky for a few seconds.
"There are the little 'eeee' ones, then there are the 'ooooh' ones - those ones you have to stand up and follow with your head," Susan Kitchens said on Mount Wilson.
The shower was less intense than the 4,000 per hour some had predicted, but nonetheless it was a more impressive display than astronomers have seen in years.
TUCSON
Local program promotes youth magazine
Associated Press
Peer into a downtown Tucson shop window after school someday and you'll uncover Tucson's untold stories in a new youth-produced magazine.
The nonprofit Voices Inc. - an organization that trains low-income youth to document local stories by pairing them with professional mentors - moved into its first headquarters at the old McWhorter Music storefront in early September.
The new tenants are seeking to make connections with history. On any given afternoon, there are close to 20 aspiring writers compiling stories for their annual magazine, 110. The name refers to Tucson's longitudinal coordinate on a map: 110, 57 - west of the prime meridian.
There's a story about a 17-year-old transsexual. Another tells of a man who grew up in Barrio Viejo and now worries that new Anglo residents who don't know their neighbors will call the police on him while he's hanging out in his own neighborhood.
There's a cover story on lowriders and an interview with a black man who grew up going to the segregated Dunbar School.
"The kids want to write and they want to learn photography, and we want to document urban culture," said Voices director Regina Kelly.
