Nation briefs 3/14/06

Seven dead in Texas Panhandle wildfires

BORGER, Texas -- Using bulldozers and air tankers, firefighters struggled Monday to stop wind-blown wildfires that scorched more than 1,000 square miles of the drought-stricken Texas Panhandle. The blazes were blamed for at least seven deaths, four of them in a crash on a smoke-shrouded highway over the weekend. Four more bodies were found Monday evening in a car that had crashed into a ravine, and authorities suspected those deaths were also caused by the wildfires. About 1,900 people in seven counties were evacuated.

Kmart settles disability access suit for $13 million

DENVER -- Kmart agreed Monday to a $13 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit over access for disabled shoppers, a company spokesman said. The agreement, filed in U.S. District Court in Denver, also gives the company 7 1/2 years to bring its stores nationwide into compliance with federal standards for merchandise, counters, restrooms, fitting rooms and parking lots. The $13 million includes $8 million in cash and $5 million in gift cards.

First case of bird flu hits Myanmar, Cameroon

YANGON, Myanmar -- Myanmar reported its first case of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, and there was a high risk poultry in Afghanistan were also infected, officials said Monday, a day after the virus gained new ground in Europe and Africa. Lab tests confirmed the outbreak in northern Myanmar after 112 chickens died, said Laurence Gleeson, a senior official at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, citing a report from the Myanmar government. The Cameroon government announced its first case on Sunday, becoming the fourth African country to be struck by the virus.

S. Korean minister offers to resign over scandal

SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea's prime minister offered to resign today amid mounting opposition criticism for playing golf when he was expected to oversee the government's response to a railway strike, the president's spokesman said. Lee Hae-chan relayed his intention to step down to President Roh Moo-hyun. Lee has been under fire from the opposition and public for golfing March 1, the first day of a nationwide walkout by railway workers.

Four men found hanged in Baghdad slum

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Police found four hanged men dangling from electricity pylons in a Baghdad Shiite slum Monday, hours after car bombs and mortars shells ripped through teeming market streets, killing at least 58 people and wounding more than 200. The grim scene of apparent vigilante justice in Sadr City underscored fears that the bloody assault Sunday on the stronghold of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr would plunge Iraq into another frenzy of sectarian killing. Britain, meanwhile, said it was cutting its forces by 10 percent by May -- or about 800 troops -- because Iraqi forces are becoming more capable of handling security.

-- From wire reports