FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- A federal investigation has found that a hazardous waste facility at the center of a birth defects controversy improperly disposed of a chemical known to cause cancer and reproductive problems.
Officials with the Environmental Protection Agency sent a notice of violation Thursday to Chemical Waste Management in Kettleman City. The company runs the largest hazardous waste dump in the West.
At issue is the facility's handling of PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, a banned transformer fluid.
Nearby residents have blamed the facility for at least 11 birth defects since 2007. Company officials have said there's no evidence linking the dump to the birth defects.
Company officials did not immediately return calls for comment Thursday.
AKOBO, Sudan – Three-day-old Odong Obong lay in the hospital bed, his pencil-thin arms almost motionless and his shriveled, gaunt face resembling that of an elderly man.
Emaciated babies and young children throughout the ward bore the signs of hunger: exposed ribs and distended stomachs. Outside, old villagers reclined motionless in the shade, too frail to walk.
The U.N. calls this the "hungriest place on Earth" after years of drought and conflict, with aid agencies already feeding 80,000 people here. A doctor says the worst is yet to come.
Two years of failed rains and tribal clashes have laid the foundation for Africa's newest humanitarian crisis. The World Food Program quadrupled its assistance levels from January to March in the Akobo region of southeastern Sudan.
International aid agencies are bracing for the worst. Even if spring rains materialize this year, the harvest won't come in until fall.
"And if there is no rain, it will get worse," said Dr. Galiek Galou, one of three doctors at the hospital in this town on the border with Ethiopia.
"If you stay here for a week you'll have problems, even if you have money," he said. "There is nothing to buy."
Southern Sudan lies in a drought-prone belt of Africa, but the situation has been exacerbated by rising intertribal violence that claimed more than 2,000 lives in 2009. Because of the global financial meltdown, the government has fewer available resources.
The food crisis is also a legacy of a devastating north-south civil war of more than 21 years that left 2 million people dead and many more displaced. That conflict is separate from the war in the western Sudanese region of Darfur, which began in 2003 and has killed 300,000.
The aid groups Save the Children and Medair have canvassed the Akobo community for the past week, searching for the hungriest children. They found 253 who they classified as severely malnourished, meaning they will die without immediate intervention. The children are enrolled in a feeding program that relies primarily on fortified peanut butter.
Another 200 severely malnourished children are being fed in a separate program, said the U.N.'s Dr. Natalie Lewin.
At the hospital, one toddler who appears to be in the worst shape is 2-year-old Dhoah Thoan, whose skin hangs off his body in an alarming way. He has skinny arms and an oversize stomach but bright brown eyes. Two beds over is Nyagod Kuel, also 2. If he had not been brought in for treatment, he would have died, Galou said.
Nearby, Odong lies on colorful blankets under mosquito netting with his triplet brothers Opiew and Ochan. Their mother hovers at the side of the bed.
"The hunger situation is really bad," said Goi Juoyul Yol, 37, the town's top official, who graduated from the University of Kentucky. "You'll have a cup of grain for a family of five for two days."
A recent survey by Save the Children and Medair found that almost 46 percent of children in the region are malnourished. Lise Grande, the top U.N. official in southern Sudan, labeled the Akobo region as the "hungriest place on Earth." She noted that most humanitarian agencies regard a malnutrition rate of 15 percent to be an emergency threshold.
"This year 4.3 million people in southern Sudan will need some sort of food assistance," Grande said. "That could be as much as nearly half of the population in the south. When you have that many people who need food, you can see the dimensions of the crisis."
Sitting outside one of the hundreds of grass huts that have popped up in recent months as people flee violence and search for food was Kalang Nyot, 32. The mother of five said she walks for 12 hours three times a week to gather a small orange fruit called lalif. A grandmother stays behind and watches the children, but because she is so weak she can barely move.
Mohamed Nuh, an emergency program manager with Save the Children, said aid agencies will need to shift food out of Akobo because families are moving into the town center and away from farmland where they could plant crops, a situation that could begin a cycle of unending need.
"While they're here they just sleep and wait for the food distribution," he said. "The current strategy is not working."
But Akobo's town center showed one of the dangers of moving food away from a central area of accountability.
Among the wooden shops, one salesman had 60 bags of sorghum — a type of grain — for sale donated by the United States. The American flag and "USAID" are stamped on the bags, along with the words "Not to be sold or exchanged." But Deng Bichiaki was indeed selling them — food aid that was likely stolen for the black market.
"Our governments do not intend this to be sold. I must say I've never seen so many bags on one occasion," said Morten Petersen, a technical assistant to the European Commission who was visiting Akobo to see how much aid was needed.
Despite the apparent fraud, Petersen said he would report back that Akobo was suffering "a very severe problem that we will have to confront in coming weeks."
The town is part of an isolated region suffering from tribal warfare that has displaced almost 400,000 people.
Sudan's elections start April 13 and will include local as well as parliamentary and presidential polls in a three-day balloting. The vote is a crucial step in Sudan's 2005 north-south peace deal that ended the civil war and paves the way for a referendum that will allow southerners to decide whether to secede from the Muslim-dominated north.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — The shots. The fist pumps. The roaring galleries at Augusta National.
Tiger Woods played as though he'd never been away.
Returning from a five-month layoff and trying to rebuild his reputation after a sex scandal, Woods quickly showed his game was still in good shape Thursday at the Masters.
Even with Phil Mickelson grabbing a share of the lead and 60-year-old Tom Watson posting another turn-back-the-clock round in a major, all eyes were on the world's best player during one of the most scrutinized opening rounds in golf history.
No one was sure what to expect from Woods, a four-time Masters champion competing for the first time since a Thanksgiving night car wreck led to revelations of numerous extramarital affairs. But a 3-under 33 on the front side certainly answered the question on everyone's mind: How would he play?
No longer sporting the goatee he had worn during practice, Woods bounced back from his first bogey with two precise shots that set up a 10-footer for eagle at the par-5 eighth. When the ball dropped in the cup, patrons rose in unison to salute the disgraced golfer, who delivered his first fist pump of the day.
But this round likely will be remembered for a shot Woods pulled off at the next hole. He yanked his drive left of the fairway, leaving him with a treacherous 5-iron that had to be hooked around the pine trees to reach an uphill green he could barely see.
Woods ripped into the ball with a powerful swing, then ran out into the fairway to get a look as it skidded onto the green, pulling to a stop about 12 feet above the hole. He rolled in the birdie putt, which put him on the leaderboard for the first time, just two strokes behind.
The gallery around the first tee was sparse a half-hour before Woods was scheduled to start. By the time he arrived, it had swelled to 10 deep all the way round. Woods smiled and touched the brim of his cap, acknowledging the cheers when his name was announced.
"Make us proud!" a fan yelled.
Not that he totally escaped his personal troubles inside the gates of Augusta National.
A small plane flew over the course pulling a banner that jabbed the golfer: "Tiger: Did you mean bootyism?" — a reference to Woods' claim that part of the reason for his troubles was that he left his faith, Buddhism. Some people in the stands laughed and pulled out binoculars to get a closer look. Later, another banner said: "Sex Addict? Yeah Right Dupe Me, Too"
The 60-year-old Watson, who nearly became the oldest major winner in golf history at last year's British Open, showed that wasn't a fluke. He grabbed the clubhouse lead with a 5-under 67, tying his best round at Augusta.
The last time he did it was 20 years ago. Watson closed with a 5-foot birdie putt at the tough 18th hole, set up by a brilliant iron shot that skipped along the right side of the green, caught the ridge and turned back toward the flag.
Mickelson was among three other morning starters who matched Watson's 67, joined by reigning PGA Championship winner Y.E. Yang and England's Lee Westwood, seeking his first major title.
Mickelson had a blistering eagle-birdie-birdie stretch starting at the par-5 13th, and his score could have been even lower. He missed birdie tries of about 10 feet at No. 16 and a 5-footer at the 18th, but this was still an encouraging start for a two-time Masters winner who has struggled this year.
"I do love this place," Mickelson said. "I don't have to be perfect. I can miss a shot and still recover. It relaxes me when I go down Magnolia Lane."
Woods was in the next-to-last group, playing with K.J. Choi and Matt Kuchar. It looked as though there might be a rain delay as skies darkened and the wind gusted up to 22 mph ahead of an approaching storm. There were scattered sprinkles, but the front was breaking up as it passed over Augusta.
Anthony Kim endured a wild back side on his way to a 68. He started with three straight bogeys, made an eagle at 13, another bogey at the 14th, then closed with three straight birdies. His only par after the turn came at No. 16.
David Toms, who failed to qualify for the Masters a year ago, returned with a 69. Defending Masters champion Angel Cabrera got off to a strong start with a 3-under 33 at the turn, but a double-bogey 7 at the 13th sent him tumbling to a 73.
Tocha Cunningham waited along the first fairway with her 15-year-old son, Jordan Salley, who is a huge fans of Woods and was attending his first Masters
"I'm ready to watch him. He's always been my favorite player. He's always been an inspiration," Jordan said.
The mother tried to discuss the scandal with her son.
"He understood, but Jordan did not want to talk about it because Tiger is his hero," she said. "He wanted to look beyond the personal and just focus on the golf."
Officials at Augusta National insisted that no one player — not even when it's the world's best embroiled in a scandal — would overshadow their tournament. And for a few moments, at least, that was the case as Jack Nicklaus joined Arnold Palmer at the first tee shortly after sunrise for the opening shots.
"I've never been up this early at Augusta," cracked the 70-year-old Nicklaus, who won a record six green jackets and agreed to return this year to join Palmer in a ceremonial role.
Sentimentality aside, most patrons were eager to get a look at Woods in comeback mode.
Bill Campbell set up his chair along the second fairway, hoping to catch one of the golfer's early shots.
"I'm expecting him to be wild off the tee," Campbell said, "but I won't be surprised if he pulls off a great round."
Mark Felt stationed himself along the third tee, which also afforded a view of the seventh green.
"He's going to come back sometime," Felt said. "Might as well be here."
Britain's choice by Biodun Iginla, BBC News and the Economist Topic: the economist, biodun iginla, bb
Editor's Highlights | April 8th 2010
A general election has been called in Britain. We look at what we hope to hear from the party leaders during the campaign, who the main characters are and how different constituencies vote. We also publish a 20-page guide to personality, policy and psephology, which is bound into the magazine in Britain, and available on our website to readers elsewhere at www.economist.com/ukelection2010 Here are some other pieces from this week's issue you might also be interested in. You can click straight through to each one and read it at The Economist online using the links below.
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan – The president of Kyrgyzstan declared from hiding Thursday that he would not surrender to a violent uprising that put the opposition in control of much of the country, home to a U.S. air base key to the war in nearby Afghanistan.
Just after he spoke, automatic weapons fire broke out in the capital miles from the Manas facility, where flights were at least temporarily halted and troops were confined to the base.
It was not clear if Kyrgyz forces controlled by the opposition in Bishkek were battling loyalists of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, or simply firing to deter looters after nightfall. There appeared to be little evidence of armed men loyal to Bakiyev in the capital before dusk.
The opposition has seized vital official buildings in Bishkek and elsewhere and was giving orders to at least some security forces, declaring it controlled four of the nation's seven provinces. Opposition leader Roza Otunbayeva said parliament had been dissolved and she would head an interim government that would rule for six months until elections were held. She urged Bakiyev to resign.
Bakiyev, who has fled the northern capital for his stronghold in the south, told a Russian radio station that "I don't admit defeat in any way." But he also said he recognized that "even though I am president, I don't have any real levers of power."
Although the opposition has previously voiced objection to Manas, Otunbayeva said there were no plans yet to review the lease that runs out in July and her government would meet U.S. diplomats for talks in Bishkek.
"Give us time, it will take time for us to understand and fix the situation," Otunbayeva said.
Associated Press reporters could hear sustained shooting every few minutes from different directions in Bishkek, along with some single shots. Lights in most buildings including hotels were put out over fears they would attract gunfire.
U.S. military officials said Kyrgyzstan halted flights for 12 hours Wednesday at the Manas air base, confining troops to the base, and did not say if flights had resumed. There are about 1,100 troops there including contingents from Spain and France, also supporting NATO operations in Afghanistan.
This mountainous former Soviet republic exploded Wednesday after protesters furious over corruption and soaring utility bills stormed government buildings in Bishkek. Riot police fired straight into crowds. The Health Ministry said at least 74 people were killed and 400 people hospitalized. After hours of clashes the opposition seized vital official buildings in the capital and elsewhere and was giving orders to significant numbers of security forces.
Bakiyev was emphatic Thursday that he was still the elected leader of the nation of 5 million people that has been courted by China, Russia and the U.S. for its proximity to Afghanistan and resource-rich neighboring nations.
"I do not intend to relinquish power. I see no point," he said, adding that his re-election nine months ago proved he still had popular support.
Since coming to power in 2005 amid street protests known as the Tulip Revolution, Bakiyev had ensured a measure of stability, but the opposition said he did so at the expense of democratic standards while enriching himself and his family.
He gave his relatives, including his son, top government and economic posts and faced the same accusations of corruption and cronyism that led to the ouster of his predecessor, Askar Akayev.
Even though his security forces fired into crowds of demonstrators a day earlier, killing dozens and wounding hundreds, Bakiyev seemed to rule out further violence.
"You think the president elected by the people will take up arms against the people? What nonsense," he said.
Asked why he fled Bishkek, he said: "I wouldn't have left, but when they started firing on my windows, it was only by chance that I avoided injury."
Otunbayeva, the former foreign minister, said the president was in the southern region of Jalal-Abad, the heart of his political stronghold. This raised concerns that Bakiyev could try to secure his own survival by exploiting the country's traditional split between the more urban north and the rural south.
Eyewitnesses in southern Kyrgyzstan told The Associated Press that the situation there was tense and unstable, and the region had both armed men who appeared to be still supporting Bakiyev along with opposition supporters.
The new interim defense minister said the armed forces had joined the opposition and will not be used against protesters.
"Special forces and the military were used against civilians in Bishkek ... and other places," Ismail Isakov said. "This will not happen in the future."
In 2009, Kyrgyzstan said U.S. forces would have to leave Manas, a decision made shortly after Russia granted Kyrgyzstan more than $2 billion in aid and loans. The government later reversed its stance and signed a one-year deal with the U.S. that raised the rent to about $63 million a year from $17 million.
The U.S. is also paying $67 million for airport improvements and navigation systems and another $51.5 million to combat drug trafficking and terrorism and promote economic development.
Leonid Bondarets, who has been affiliated with the Sweden-based Central Asia and the Caucasus think tank, said as long as Bakiyev did not formally resign, there is room for trouble.
"It's hard to predict what is going to happen because Bakiyev hasn't stepped down," Bondarets said in a telephone interview from Bishkek. "The situation is still tense."
Kyrgyzstan, which shares a 533-mile (858-kilometer) border with China, is also a gateway to other energy-rich Central Asian countries where China, Russia and the U.S. are competing fiercely for dominance. It is a predominantly Muslim country, but it has remained secular.
In a tentative sign that Russia may lend its support to the opposition forces, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called Otunbayeva on Thursday to talk. Any suggestion that Russia is backing the new leadership adds to the pressure on Bakiyev to step down.
Russia sent in 150 paratroopers to its base to ensure the safety of the 400 military personnel and their families there, Russian state media reported.
In Bishkek, most of the government buildings in the capital, as well as Bakiyev's houses, have been looted or set on fire and two major markets were burned down. A paper portrait of Bakiyev at government headquarters was smeared with red paint. Obscenities about him were spray-painted on buildings nearby.
___
Associated Press writers Leila Saralayeva and Yuras Karmanau in Bishkek, Anita Chang in Beijing, Pauline Jelinek in Washington, Deborah Seward in Paris and Lynn Berry, Mansur Mirovalev, Nataliya Vasilyeva and David Nowak in Moscow contributed to this report.
Photo: AP Kyrgyz officials say at least 40 people have been killed and more than 400 wounded in clashes between police and anti-government protesters in the capital, Bishkek.
Attempts to contact 4 missing miners prove fruitless. Workers drill a new ventilation hole at site where 25 men were killed Monday; governor says there's only 'a sliver of hope' of finding survivors.
Washington Post (blog) - Charles Lane - 25 minutes ago
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David Cameron's opinion poll lead has fallen over the last two months, amid growing Tory fears that the party may be unable to avoid a hung parliament.
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By Al Bello, Getty Images By Douglas Robson, Special for USA TODAY Martina Navratilova, the pioneering paragon of fitness who played competitively on the women's pro tour until nearly 50, is being treated for breast cancer.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - So-called fat dissolving treatments offered by spas do not eliminate fat and the companies should stop saying so, the US Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday.
Now 65 and raising her two rambunctious ten-year-olds in Killeen, Tex., Nolen is one of a growing number of women in the US who have entered motherhood post-40.
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OSLO – A Catholic bishop in Norway who resigned last year did so after admitting he had molested a child about 20 years earlier, when he was a priest, church officials said Wednesday.
The announcement came after a Norwegian newspaper pressed for an explanation for why Georg Mueller, a 58-year-old German, had stepped down unexpectedly as bishop in the western city of Trondheim in June 2009. At the time, Vatican and Norwegian church officials gave only vague reasons for Mueller's departure.
It was the first case in the current wave of sexual abuse allegations — and accusations of cover-ups — against Catholic clergy in which a bishop stepped down after admitting to having molested minors.
The revelation rocked the small Catholic community in Norway, a predominantly Lutheran country, and follows scandals in Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Denmark that are erupting after decades of abuse cases in the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland and other countries.
Mueller's successor, Bishop Bernt Eidsvig, said in a statement that the details surrounding the case had been kept quiet at the request of the victim. Church officials said it happened at "the beginning of the 90s" — before Mueller became a bishop in 1997 — and no other allegations had come to light.
Mueller was removed from all pastoral duties and underwent therapy after he admitted the abuse, Eidsvig said.
"He will never again be given a position in the church," Eidsvig told Adresseavisen, the Trondheim daily newspaper that broke the story.
Adresseavisen said the victim was an altar boy. Eidsvig didn't give any details, saying only that the victim was now "well over age."
The church in Norway said it made the case public at the request of Cardinal William Levada, who oversees the office that handles cases of alleged abuse by priests.
Adresseavisen wrote Wednesday that it has for the past year repeatedly requested details about Mueller's resignation, which the church had explained only in vague terms.
It's too late for the case, which came to the Vatican's attention in January of last year, to be tried in civil court because the statute of limitations in Norway has passed, Eidsvig said.
Mueller, who first took up a post in Trondheim in 1981, quit his post on June 8, 2009, and relocated to Rome, according to the Web site of the German branch of his order, the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. The site said his resignation cited a section of canon law that allows a bishop to quit early if he is unable to carry out his duties for health or other reasons.
Father Heinz-Josef Catrein confirmed that the order, whose German section he heads, was aware of the reason for Mueller's resignation, but said it had no power to handle the case.
"As a bishop, he was and is under the jurisdiction of the Holy See," Catrein told The Associated Press by telephone from Lahnstein, north of Frankfurt.
Since Mueller left Norway, he spent time in Germany and Italy — foremost in Rome — Catrein added. This included several weeks of psychiatric care in a German clinic that Catrein declined to identify.
"I don't know where he is now. I get the feeling he doesn't want to be found," he said.
A priest at the order's monastery in nearby Arnstein also was unaware of Mueller's whereabouts.
At the Rome headquarters of Mueller's order, the Rev. Alfred Bell said the bishop had "spent some time in Jerusalem" after resigning. Bell said he didn't know Mueller's current whereabouts but added that the bishop hadn't done any kind of ministry work since resigning.
Bell is the order's postulator, the official who promotes the sainthood cause of members of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Bell shepherded the cause of the Rev. Damien de Veutser, a 19th-century Belgian missionary from the Congregation who ministered to leprosy patients in Hawaii and became a saint last year.
Addresseavisen reported that the church paid the victim between 400,000 and 500,000 kroner ($67,000-$84,000) in reparations. Andreas Dingstad, a spokesman for Norway's Catholic Church, told The Associated Press he didn't know whether the church had paid reparations.
The Catholic Church in Norway had previously said it had investigated two separate claims of abuse from the 1950s.
Church officials estimate there are more than 100,000 Catholics in Norway, a mostly Lutheran country of 4.9 million people.
In neighboring Denmark, also predominantly Lutheran, the Catholic Church launched an investigation this week into claims of clerical abuse dating back several decades. The panel is looking into 17 cases mostly dating to the 1960s and 70s.
AP – People carry an injured man near the main government building in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Wednesday, April …
By PETER LEONARD, Associated Press Writer Peter Leonard, Associated Press Writer – 20 mins ago
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan – Thousands of protesters furious over corruption and spiraling utility bills seized internal security headquarters, a state TV channel and other levers of power in Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday after government forces fatally shot dozens of demonstrators and wounded hundreds.
A revolution in the Central Asian nation was proclaimed by leaders of the opposition, who have called for the closure of a U.S. air base outside the capital that serves as a key transit point for supplies essential to the war in nearby Afghanistan.
The U.S. State Department said transport operations at the Manas base were "functioning normally."
This mountainous former Soviet republic erupted when protesters called onto the streets by opposition parties for a day of protest began storming government buildings in the capital, Bishkek, and clashed with police. Groups of elite officers opened fire.
The Health Ministry said 40 people had died and more than 400 were wounded. Opposition activist Toktoim Umetalieva said at least 100 people had died after police opened fire with live ammunition.
Crowds of demonstrators took control of the state TV building and looted it, then marched toward the Interior Ministry, according to Associated Press reporters on the scene, before changing direction and attacking a national security building nearby. They were repelled by security forces loyal to President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, whose whereabouts were a mystery.
The opposition and its supporters appeared to gain the upper hand after nightfall, and an Associated Press reporter saw opposition leader Keneshbek Duishebayev sitting in the office of the chief of the National Security Agency, Kyrgyzstan's successor to the Soviet KGB. Duishebayev issued orders on the phone to people Duishebayev said were security agents. He also gave orders to a uniformed special forces commando.
Duishebayev told the AP that "we have created units to restore order" on the streets. He said Bakiyev may have fled to Osh, the country's second-largest city, where he has a home.
Since coming to power in 2005 on a wave of street protests known as the Tulip Revolution, Bakiyev had ensured a measure of stability, but many observers say he has done so at the expense of democratic standards while enriching himself and his family. He gave his relatives, including his son, top government and economic posts and faced the same accusations of corruption and cronyism that led to the ouster of his predecessor.
Over the past two years, Kyrgyz authorities have clamped down on free media, and opposition activists say they have routinely been subjected to physical intimidation and targeted by politically motivated criminal investigations.
Many of the opposition leaders once were allies of Bakiyev, in some cases former ministers or diplomats.
The anti-government forces in Kyrgyzstan were in disarray until recent widespread anger over the 200 percent hike in electricity and heating gas bills helped unify them and galvanize support. Many of Wednesday's protesters were men from poor villages, including some who had come to the capital to live and work on construction sites. Already struggling, they were outraged by the utility bill hikes and were easily stirred up by opposition claims of corruption in Bakiyev's circle. Kyrgyz are secular Muslims, and Islamist sentiments do not appear to have played a role in the uprising.
U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the U.S. deplored the violence and urged all to respect the rule of law.
"We identify with the concerns that the people of Kyrgyzstan have about their future," but those concerns should be dealt with peacefully, Crowley said, adding that the Manas base was operating normally.
Opposition leaders have said they want it shuttered because it could put their country at risk if the United States becomes involved in a military conflict with Iran. Closing it would also please Russia, which has opposed the basing of U.S. troops on former Soviet turf.
Prime Minister Daniyar Usenov on Wednesday morning accused the opposition of having Russia's support. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin denied any involvement in the uprising.
"Russian officials have absolutely nothing to do with this," he said in the city of Smolensk. "Personally, these events caught me completely by surprise."
The unrest began Tuesday in the western city of Talas, where demonstrators stormed a government office and held a governor hostage, prompting a government warning of "severe" repercussions for continuing unrest.
The opposition called nationwide protests for the next day and police in Bishkek at first used rubber bullets, tear gas, water cannons and concussion grenades to try to control crowds of young men clad in black who were chasing police officers, beating them up and seizing their arms, trucks and armored personnel carriers.
Some protesters then tried to use a personnel carrier to ram the gates of the government headquarters, known as the White House. Many of the protesters threw rocks, but about a half dozen young protesters shot Kalashnikovs into the air from the square in front of the building.
"We don't want this rotten power!" protester Makhsat Talbadyev said, as he and others in Bishkek waved opposition party flags and chanted: "Bakiyev out!"
Some 200 elite police began firing, pushing the crowd back from the government headquarters.
Protesters set fire to the prosecutor general's office in the city center, and a giant plume of black smoke billowed into the sky.
Police often appeared outnumbered and overwhelmed, sometimes retreating when faced with protesters — including many armed with rocks and others who appeared to be carrying automatic weapons as they marched.
At one point police fled across the square from a large group of stone-throwing demonstrators. In another street, a small group of police took refuge behind their shields as one of their colleagues lay unconscious at their feet, his face smeared with blood.
In another area, two policemen, their faces bloodstained, tried to escape as a protester aimed kicks in their direction.
Groups of protesters then set out across Bishkek, attacking more government buildings.
An Associated Press reporter saw dozens of wounded demonstrators lining the corridors of one of Bishkek's main hospitals, a block away from the main square, where doctors were unable to cope with the flood of patients. Weeping nurses slumped over dead bodies, doctors shouted at each other and the floors were covered in blood.
Opposition activist Shamil Murat told the AP that Interior Minister Moldomusa Kongatiyev had been beaten to death by a mob in Talas. The respected Fergana.ru Web site reported later that Kongatiyev was badly beaten but had not died, saying its own reporter had witnessed the beating.
Unrest also broke out for a second day in Talas and spread to the southern city of Naryn.
Another 10,000 protesters stormed police headquarters in Talas. The protesters beat up the interior minister, Kongatiyev, and forced him to call his subordinates in Bishkek and call off the crackdown on protesters, a correspondent for the local affiliate of U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said.
Some 5,000 protesters seized Naryn's regional administration building and installed a new governor, opposition activist Adilet Eshenov said. At least four people were wounded in clashes, including the regional police chief, he said.
In the eastern region of Issyk-Kul, protesters seized the regional administration building and declared they installed their governor, the Ata-Meken opposition party said on its Web site.
At least 10 opposition leaders were arrested overnight and were being held at the security headquarters in Bishkek, opposition lawmaker Irina Karamushkina said.
At least one of them, Temir Sariyev, was freed Wednesday by protesters.
The leaders of the four other former Soviet republics in the region were certain to be watching events in Bishkek with concern, but the authoritarian, and in some cases dictatorial, natures of their governments would likely allow them to squash any attempts to challenge their rules.
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