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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A Pakistani security official is calling reports of the death of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar "speculation" designed to disrupt peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. An Afghan official says his government is examining claims that reclusive Omar is dead. Omar is the one-eyed, secretive head of the Taliban and an al-Qaida ally who led a bloody insurgency against U.S.-led forces after they toppled him from his rule in Afghanistan in 2001.
MIAMI (AP) — The attorney for a man arrested for allegedly plotting to detonate a nail-filled bomb on a Florida beach says his client is no extremist. A criminal complaint unsealed yesterday charges 23-year-old Harlem Suarez of Key West with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction in the U.S. Suarez made his first court appearance yesterday in Miami after being arrested the day before. Authorities say Suarez took possession of an inert explosive device provided by an FBI informant, and that Suarez had given the informant some bomb supplies.
TEQUESTA, Fla. (AP) — The Coast Guard says the search for two Florida teens who disappeared Friday while on a fishing trip now stretches from Florida's east coast to Charleston, South Carolina. Today's search area includes the waters near Tybee Island, Georgia, where callers reported seeing something floating in the water yesterday evening. Crews combed the area last night, but didn't find anything connected to the search for Perry Cohen and Austin Stephanos, both 14.
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — A professional hunter and a farm owner have appeared in court in Zimbabwe today to face poaching charges. They're accused of helping a Minnesota dentist kill a protected lion with a bow. Zimbabwean police say they're looking for Walter James Palmer, who allegedly paid $50,000 to track and kill the animal. Palmer has said in a statement that he was unaware that the lion was protected and relied on his guides to follow the law.
PARIS (AP) — The woman the incredibly expensive Hermes (uhr-MEHZ') Birkin bag was named after is asking the company to take her name off the crocodile-skin versions of the bag, after she was contacted by the animal rights group PETA. A PETA video from June shows the reptiles at a Texas farm that supplies Hermes, left twitching in a bloody container after being shot with a captive bolt gun and crudely cut. British singer Jane Birkin says she wants Hermes to "debaptize" the croc Birkin until "better practices in line with international norms can be put in place." The bags sell for tens of thousands of dollars.
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