Today’s Christian Science Monitor tells the story of Afghan bounty hunters who receive substantial reward monies for tracking down and capturing Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters. Here’s a sample: The most lucrative catch by far – worth $80,000 to his small army – came late last year when the Hazara commander arranged through a local Taliban source to have Mullah Wasiq, the militia’s deputy intelligence chief, over to dinner. Also

“Men redundant? Now we don’t need women either. Scientists have developed an artificial womb that allows embryos to grow outside the body,” The Guardian reports.

Reuters reports: “It’s official — boxing legend Muhammad Ali has Irish roots, Irish genealogists said on Friday.” Researchers at the Clare Heritage Centre in southwest Ireland said they have evidence that a great grandfather of the three-times world champion hailed from the county town of Ennis, close to the west coast. Antoinette O’Brien, a genealogist at the center, told Reuters that Ali’s great grandfather, Abe Grady, emigrated to the United

“The United States, which this week said it would apply the Geneva Convention to captured Taliban fighters but not to members of al-Qaida, is struggling to differentiate between the prisoners held in Cuba, a senior Army officer said Saturday. Also Saturday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Saturday that it disagrees with the Bush administration on the detainee issue, and that would keep trying to persuade American officials

“Civil-rights advocates who sued to have dozens of Afghan war detainees held in Cuba brought before a U.S. court are pressing their argument that the courts have authority in the case,” The New York Post reports via the AP. “U.S. District Judge A. Howard Matz is to hear their argument on Thursday although, at a hearing last month, Matz said he had ‘grave doubts’ about his court’s jurisdiction over the

“At least two suspected Palestinian gunmen opened fire Sunday outside an Israeli military base in the southern city of Beersheba, killing at least two Israelis and wounding several more before being shot dead, Israeli police said. The shooting came soon after Israeli forces raided two sections of the West Bank city of Nablus early on Sunday, exchanging fire with Palestinian gunmen and arresting at least three suspected militants,” MSNBC reports.

From Ananova: “Wild elephants went on a rampage in southeastern Bangladesh and killed three people, including two children. “Nearly a dozen villagers were injured on Friday and Saturday during the attacks by a herd of 13 elephants in Bandarban district, Bangladesh’s Sangbad Sangstha news agency reported.” Those trampled to death were sleeping in their homes in Kumari, a village 155 miles southeast of Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital. Last month, wild

A roundup of foreign media response to the opening ceremonies of the Salt Lake Olympiad, courtesy of the AP and ESPN. A taste: While Americans gave the Winter Olympic opening ceremony red, white and blue raves, some members of the foreign press were critical of the festivities’ patriotic overtones. Most of their criticism was about the tie-ins to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, especially the procession of the flag recovered

“A counselor at a Mount Pleasant center for troubled teens was in serious condition at the Westchester Medical Center yesterday after surviving a savage attack by eight girls,” The JournalNews reports. “Six of the eight girls

“Breaking ranks with the United States, EU foreign ministers backed the outlines of a new Mideast peace plan Saturday calling for Palestinian elections and the creation of a Palestinian state to be immediately recognized by Israel and admitted to the United Nations,” The AP reports. Creation of a Palestinian state must be the ‘starting point of a negotiating process,’ French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine said as he presented a blueprint