■ MEXICO
Gang kills army informants
Drug gang hitmen killed three army informants on Tuesday and dumped them near a military training base close to the US border, scrawling threats on the bodies in black ink, police said. The three men, who police said gave the army regular tip-offs about drug gang activity in the city of Tijuana near San Diego, California, were strangled. "The messages were written on the chests and on the foreheads. One of them read `You're next, we're going in,'" said a police spokesman who declined to be named. President Felipe Calderon has sent thousands of troops to Tijuana and other cities in Baja California, the country's most violent state, to destroy two warring drug cartels.
■ UNITED STATES
Parton postpones tour
Dolly Parton's breasts may be two of the wonders of the entertainment world, but the country music icon says they are a pain in her back. Parton, 62, said on Monday she would postpone her upcoming North American tour after doctors told her to take it easy for six to eight weeks to rest her sore back. "Hey, you try wagging these puppies around a while and see if you don't have back problems," the folksy singer-songwriter said in a statement. The tour was due to begin on Feb. 28 in Minneapolis, two days after the release of Backwoods Barbie, her first album of mainstream country music in 17 years.
■ UNITED STATES
Cab driver plays cupid
Finding your better half this Valentine's Day could be as easy as hailing a taxi -- especially if Ahmed Ibrahim is in the driver's seat. The 53-year-old cupid cab driver, as he refers to himself, has spent the past few years playing matchmaker to lonely New Yorkers, setting up more than 70 dates. Nineteen have led to relationships that lasted more than a year. Ibrahim plans to decorate his yellow cab with red and white hearts and roses for today. "I've organized so many dates and it really makes me feel good about it," Ibrahim said. "I've not had one complaint."
■ UNITED STATES
Body found in bathtub
A partially mummified body was found in a bathtub filled with dirt in a Phoenix, Arizona, apartment that was stacked to the ceiling with garbage and human waste. The owners of the small, standalone unit thought it had been abandoned in August, when rent stopped being paid, Phoenix police Sergeant Joel Tranter said on Monday. Tranter said the owners did not decide to do anything about the filthy apartment until last week, when they paid other tenants in the complex to clean it out. When they started shoveling the dirt out, they found the leg of a body and called police, Tranter said.
RSS