Philippines: Military announces arrest of Abu Sayyaf commander

Soldiers arrested a key commander of the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf group in the southern Philippines, the military said Saturday.

Hakimin Imran was arrested Wednesday at a military checkpoint on Basilan island, but his arrest was not immediately disclosed because he was being interrogated, said military spokesman Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero.

Imran is accused of taking part in a mass kidnapping of more than 50 teachers and students in March 2000.

He also allegedly provided security to an Abu Sayyaf band that raided a Philippine resort and seized 20 people, including Americans Martin and Gracia Burnham.

Arkansas: Wal-Mart reports record day-after-Thanksgiving sales

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, rang up record sales the day after Thanksgiving, suggesting holiday shoppers will be a price-conscious bunch.

Saturday, the discount chain reported $1.43 billion in sales at its domestic stores, supercenters and neighborhood markets on Friday. That was its highest single-day total ever, outpacing the $1.25 billion showing at the same time last year, when consumers were reeling in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Bentonville, Ark., company is the only major discount chain so far to report sales for “Black Friday,” the official start of the holiday shopping season and a day retailers traditionally have used to gauge whether they’ll go into the black for the remainder of the year.

Jerusalem: Palestinian teens killed; Israeli tanks move on city

A 16-year-old Palestinian was shot and killed and another boy was wounded Saturday as they neared a border fence on the way home from school in the Gaza Strip, witnesses and hospital officials said.

Later Saturday, about 30 Israeli tanks and armored vehicles backed by two Apache helicopters moved into a Gaza town, firing machine guns and tank shells that knocked out the town of Beit Lahiya’s power transformer, witnesses and Palestinian security officials said.

Israeli security sources confirmed an operation was under way but gave no details.

Afghanistan: Stuffing looms as suspect in soldiers’ food poisoning

Turkey stuffing from a Thanksgiving meal may have caused more than 100 soldiers to fall ill with food poisoning at a U.S. base in Afghanistan, the U.S. military said Saturday.

Seventy-nine U.S. soldiers, 25 Romanians and some soldiers from other countries suffered nausea, diarrhea and vomiting beginning Thursday night at the base near the southeastern city of Kandahar, said Master Sgt. Kelly Tyler, a spokeswoman at Bagram Air Base, the headquarters of the U.S.-led military operation in Afghanistan.

The source of the illness was under investigation, though one medical official at Bagram said turkey stuffing from the Thanksgiving Day holiday meal was suspected. No soldiers were hospitalized, and most were ill for no more than 24 hours.