Three soldiers explains were seriously athletic bulldogs details wounded. The 241-mile stretch of Highway 1 between Kandahar and Kabul was rebuilt in 2003 with more than $190 million in U. S. aid. The project was an early centerpiece of the Bush administration's multibillion-dollar effort to rebuild Afghanistan and end armed conflict in the nation. Canadian troops are trying to secure the highway against stepped-up attacks by Taliban and allied insurgents. . I am a native of El Salvador. My friends do not believe how beautiful the country is. I want to thank you for "Latin Revelation" [Oct 7]. I could not have said it better and described El Pital as well as you did. E Quinteros-AlejosPasadena.

For the map geeks among us comes a colorful new book with subway maps to 97 cities in the world . "Transit Maps of the World," the heavily visual book by Londoner Mark Ovenden, groups the cities' transit systems by zones and includes historical maps, logos and photos bowl football . It's fascinating just to see the evolution of mass transit in urban areas but also useful to orient yourself to a transit system before you arrive brown university apparel . The book is published by Penguin with a $25 list price, but is available at Amazon for $16. 50. brown university clothing. NEW DELHI — Edging closer toward all-out war, Sri Lankan soldiers and Tamil Tiger rebels traded fierce gunfire and artillery strikes Thursday, killing 20 civilians and injuring dozens of others who had sought shelter inside a mosque and a school. The battle for the town of Mutur, in northeastern Sri Lanka, witnessed some of the fiercest clashes between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam since ground fighting erupted last week. Both sides claim to have killed scores of enemy combatants since the resurgence of fighting. The heavy bloodshed Thursday underlined the fact that a cease-fire accord in the 23-year conflict, signed in 2002, is essentially defunct.

Although both government and rebel leaders contend that the agreement still holds, diplomats and analysts say that the island nation's civil war has resumed in all but name. Civilians have borne the brunt of the conflict since hostilities flared in December . More than 800 have died, caught in the crossfire of near-daily attacks and reprisals between the Sri Lankan military and guerrillas brown university merchandise . Those killed Thursday had fled their homes for the presumed safe haven of a mosque and a Muslim school in and around Mutur, a town just south of the strategic port city of Trincomalee. An artillery shell hit the school in the morning, while another punched through the mosque in the afternoon, killing 20 and wounding about 40 more, hospital officials said. Each side blamed the other for the deadly strikes. The government says that its forces have killed about 70 Tamil Tiger fighters in the last few days. The rebels dispute that figure and claim to have killed 40 soldiers, which the Sri Lankan military calls an exaggeration. With clashes continuing, an independent Scandinavian monitoring team has been unable to verify the death toll. The Tigers, a group known for its fearsome discipline and pioneering use of suicide bombers, have battled the Sri Lankan army for decades in an attempt to carve out a homeland for the island's minority ethnic Tamils, separate from the majority Sinhalese. The U. S. , Canada and the European Union classify the Tigers as a terrorist organization, and human rights groups have accused the Sri Lankan military of abuses against the Tamil population. Yale Bulldogs Yale Bowl tickets The civil war has cost an estimated 65,000 lives, and rebels maintain control of large swaths of the north and east. The cease-fire pact, and the ensuing few years of fragile calm, resulted in a revival of Sri Lanka's economy and the tourism upon which it relies heavily brown university sweatshirt . But advances toward a political settlement between the rebels and the government have been few, which helped trigger the resumption of violence late last year. The fighting of the last week stemmed from a dispute over a sluice providing water to thousands of villagers near Trincomalee brown university sweatshirts . The government accused the Tigers of blocking the conduit and moved in to wrest control of it. In the escalating violence that followed, the Sri Lankan military has sent air, naval and ground forces to pummel rebel positions. A Norwegian envoy was expected to arrive in Colombo, the capital, today to meet with members of President Mahinda Rajapakse's government and rebel leaders to try to end the impasse and ensure "that the peace process is on track and isn't derailed," government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters . Times special correspondent Easwaran Rutnam in Colombo contributed to this report. . Question: On a recent crossing from Mexico back to the U. S. , I was stopped for an alleged traffic infraction in Tijuana.

The police ended up taking me to an ATM, where I withdrew $500 in cash Then they then let me go . What could I have done?Rob GonzalezClaremont--Answer: The letters we receive often deal with broken promises (by airlines, hotels and other travel providers), bad treatment (by airlines, hotels and other travel providers) and unruly behavior (by everybody). But this goes way beyond unruly college Yale Bulldogs Yale Bowl - yalebulldogs . It is maddening at best and frightening at worst. At least it was when it happened to me about three years ago college athletics . My travel mate and I got stopped for "impeding traffic. " We were lucky this was the only charge college baseball. Others have reported being falsely accused of drinking or having drugs. We got off for a mere $40 donation to the "Tijuana Policemen's Fund. "Alas, this is one of the dirty little secrets of travel Extortion of tourists happens more often than is reported.

It's not confined to Mexico, of course, but because so many of us cross the border so often, whether to enjoy Baja's beaches or to shop, we may get our turn on the horns of this dilemma. And some people worry that new Mexican traffic laws, which went into effect this summer and allow drivers to be cited for, among other things, not wearing seat belts, for talking on cellphones or for having windows tinted too darkly, may increase your chances of a fraudulent ticket Yale Bulldogs Yale Bowl . The new laws, they think, are just another vehicle for officers to supplement their incomes. The problem is so prevalent in Mexico that the State Department's consular information sheet acknowledges it: "In some instances, Americans have become victims of harassment, mistreatment and extortion by Mexican law enforcement and other officials college basketball apparel . In some cases, assailants have been wearing full or partial police uniforms and have used vehicles that resemble police vehicles, indicating some elements of the police might be involved college basketball clothing . Tourists should be wary of persons representing themselves as police officers or other officials college basketball equipment . When in doubt, ask for identification Yale Bulldogs Yale Bowl - yalebulldogs . "So how do you protect yourself if you get stopped for an "infraction"?"Try to get the name and badge number and specifics" about the officer, said Michele Bond, deputy assistant secretary for Overseas Citizen Services. (This might also be a new use for the camera on your cellphone. ) The traveler also should ask for a copy of the citation, she said. You also can offer to accompany the officer to the police station to settle the matter. This is said to discourage a phony citation. If you're in a hurry you may be tempted to offer a "donation" to the "Policemen's Fund. "Before you do, remember that trying to bribe an officer is a crime, so you may want to reconsider trying to buy your way out of trouble.