Havana

Castro marks anniversary of revolutionary triumph

Declaring that together they had written “an unprecedented page of history,” Fidel Castro gathered with several thousand members of Cuba’s political elite Saturday to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the revolutionary triumph that brought him to power.

Castro addressed the group for about 45 minutes after a concert at the Karl Marx Theater. His speech was broadcast on state-run television and radio.

As the event began, television viewers were shown black-and-white film clips of the early days of the revolution, when Castro was a triumphant 32-year-old rebel commander leading his men into the eastern city of Santiago on Jan. 1, 1959.

Castro, 77, is the world’s longest-ruling head of government — the only socialist system in the Western Hemisphere. His leadership over this Caribbean nation of 11.2 million people remains unchallenged.

Virginia

Study finds football hits are similar to car crashes

Football players were struck in the head 30 to 50 times per game and regularly endured blows similar to those experienced in car crashes, according to a Virginia Tech study that fitted players’ helmets with the same kinds of sensors that trigger auto air bags.

University researchers are compiling a database of blows to the head their starting players endured this year, with plans to study how much trauma the brain can take. The study adds to a growing body of research into concussions, the blows to the head that helped end the careers of quarterbacks Troy Aikman of the Dallas Cowboys and Steve Young of the San Francisco 49ers, among others.

The data so far surprised team physician P. Gunnar Brolinson, who said he didn’t realize players were absorbing so many serious hits, especially because only about five came off the sidelines this season with concussions.

West Bank

Four Palestinians killed in clashes with Israeli troops

Israeli soldiers patrolling the West Bank city of Nablus shot and killed three Palestinians during fighting Saturday that spilled over into the funeral procession later in the day, when troops killed a fourth Palestinian.

The killings threatened to undermine a renewed Egyptian initiative to negotiate a cease-fire after 39 months of Mideast violence.

The cause of the violence in Nablus was disputed. The Israeli military said troops opened fire after being attacked with rocks, firebombs and a concrete block dropped from a roof. Palestinian witnesses said Israelis killed an attacker and two bystanders, including a 15-year-old boy on a rooftop watching troops pass.

Hours later, Israeli soldiers shot at Palestinians during the funeral procession for the three dead, killing one man and wounding three others.