IRAN
Foreign drone captured
Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard said Saturday that it had captured a foreign unmanned aircraft during a military exercise in southern Iran. Gen. Hamid Sarkheili, a spokesman for the military exercise, said the force’s electronic warfare unit spotted signals indicating that foreign drones were trying to enter Iranian airspace. Sarkheili said Revolutionary Guard experts took control of one drone’s navigation system and brought it down near the city of Sirjan where the military drills began on Saturday. Sarkheili did not indicate whether the drone was American. In Washington, a CIA spokeswoman declined to comment on the report.
CANADA
Skier killed in avalanche
A search-and-rescue crew has recovered the body of an avalanche victim who was skiing out of bounds near the Revelstoke Mountain Resort in British Columbia. The man was skiing with two others in the Greely Lake area when the avalanche buried them Friday afternoon. Poor weather conditions prevented rescuers from removing his body until Saturday. The victim had set out for the slopes in a group of five people. Two skiers who were not hit by the slide dug out the three skiers hit in the avalanche, but were too late to save one of them.
VENEZUELA
Chavez secrecy criticized
Hundreds of government opponents demonstrated Saturday to demand answers about Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s condition while he remains out of sight in a hospital, undergoing treatment more than 10 weeks after his latest cancer surgery. The protesters also condemned the government’s most recent economic measures, which have included a devaluation of Venezuela’s currency, the bolivar. Some held signs with a photo of Vice President Nicolas Maduro and a slogan saying the devaluation will mean “more inflation.” Opposition leaders, though, mainly criticized the secrecy surrounding Chavez’s diagnosis and treatment, saying many Venezuelans want the government to be more forthcoming about the president’s condition.
Compiled from wire reports.
