West Bank

Three Israeli soldiers killed in Palestinian ambush

Palestinian gunmen killed three Israeli soldiers Thursday on the West Bank, and Israeli tanks and helicopters pounded targets in Gaza City hours later, wounding six people, hospital officials said.

Witnesses said an Israeli missile hit an Anglican chapel in a Gaza City hospital compound, damaging the roof.

The violence came just five days before Israel’s elections, where Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who is running for re-election with a policy of harsh military reprisals, is favored.

India

Pakistan officials depart

Four Pakistan embassy officials expelled by India for spying left for home, a Pakistan embassy official said today.

The four traveled Thursday night to the United Arab Emirates because there are no direct flights between India and Pakistan, said embassy official Anwar, who goes by just one name.

The expulsion came as India accused Pakistan intelligence agencies of harassing its deputy high commissioner in the Pakistani capital by preventing him from leaving home and repeatedly blocking his car by boxing in vehicles in the past week.

Pakistan retaliated Thursday by asking four Indian embassy officials to leave Islamabad within 48 hours.

Washington, D.C.

Gene could affect memory

People who inherit one version of a key gene score better on certain memory tests than people who inherit a slightly different version, researchers reported Thursday.

The work may speed the day when doctors will be able to predict which people are at greatest risk of brain-destroying diseases such as Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s, researchers said, because people with the less robust version of the gene may more vulnerable to such diseases.

More immediately, and perhaps most important, scientists said, the finding offers the best evidence that even tiny and seemingly benign molecular variations in a single gene can make a difference in the memory capabilities of healthy people.

The latest effort at the National Institute of Mental Health focused on the so-called BDNF gene, which produces a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor. BDNF has long been known to be involved in fetal brain development.

The new work will be published in today’s issue of the journal Cell.

Washington, D.C.

Senate approves Hutchinson for homeland security post

The Senate on Thursday confirmed Asa Hutchinson as undersecretary of the new Homeland Security Department, where his responsibilities will range from border control to aviation security.

Hutchinson is currently head of the Drug Enforcement Administration. His voice-vote approval came hours after he was approved by the Senate Commerce Committee, a day after the Senate approved former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge to head the department and a day before the agency formally comes into being.

The creation of the department is the biggest federal reorganization in more than half a century.