2 US pilots indicted in deadly air crash

BRAZIL
RIO DE JANEIRO -- A federal judge indicted two US pilots and four Brazilian air traffic controllers yesterday in Brazil's worst air disaster. A Boeing jet plunged into the Amazon rain forest in September after crashing in mid-air with an executive jet, killing 154. Pilots Joseph Lepore, 42, of Bay Shore, N.Y., and Jan Paladino, 34, of Westhampton Beach, N.Y., were charged with exposing a plane to danger, resulting in death. (AP)

GAZA STRIP

GAZA CITY -- Israeli troops shot and killed two 13-year-old Palestinians near the Gaza-Israel border fence yesterday, saying they were crawling toward the barrier in a "suspicious manner." The boys had told their families they were going to the beach. Also yesterday, an Islamic Jihad militant was killed in an Israeli missile strike, Palestinian security officials said. (AP)

CUBA

HAVANA -- Cuban leader Fidel Castro has almost fully recovered from surgery that put his life at risk last year, National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon told CNN yesterday. The 80-year-old Castro's brother, Raul, is interim leader . (Reuters)

INDIA

SRINAGAR -- Suspected Islamic militants attacked a paramilitary camp in Nihama, a police post in Sheeri, and an army vehicle in Indian-controlled Kashmir yesterday, killing three government soldiers and wounding 22. The Hezb-ul-Mujahedeen group claimed responsibility for the attack in Kashmir, where Indian soldiers have been fighting separatist insurgents. (AP)