69 killings in 24 hrs: Mexico’s deadliest day in drug war

Mexico City: Mexico opened the new year with what could be its most dubious distinction yet in the 3-year-old battle against drug trafficking — 69 murders in one day.

The country resembled a grim, statistical dart board on Saturday as law enforcement and media reported the deaths from various regions, including 26 in Ciudad Juarez, 13 in and around Mexico City and 10 in the city of Chihuahua.

Israel, U.S. behind killing of nuclear scientist: Iran

Tehran: Iran’s state-run media has accused Israel and the United States of masterminding the assassination of its nuclear scientist with a remote controlled device attached to explosives planted on a stationary motorcycle.

Iran’s state-run Press TV reported that Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, who lectured on neuron physics at Tehran University, was killed in a booby-trapped motorbike blast on Tuesday.

China tests missile interception technology

Beiging: China on Tuesday said it had successfully tested a surface-to-air missile system designed to intercept other missiles.

The test on Monday of a “ground-based, mid-course missile interception technology” had “achieved the expected objective,” the official Xinhua news agency said.

‘Avatar’ has a racist message?

Philadelphia: Near the end of the film Avatar, the villain snarls at the hero, “How does it feel to betray your own race?” Both men are white — although the hero is portrayed as a blue-skinned, 9-foot tall, long-tailed alien.