Obama’s tech chief

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama on Saturday chose two Indian-Americans to help to streamline the federal government and cut costs. Obama named Aneesh Chopra, the Harvard-educated secretary of technology for the state of Virginia, as the federal government’s first chief technology officer. Chopra, 36, will help reduce health care costs and foster cybersecurity. “Aneesh will promote technological innovation to help achieve our most urgent priorities - from creating jobs and reducing health care costs to keeping our nation secure,” Obama said in his Saturday radio and Internet address. — AP

Octuplet mom

LA HABRA: Police officials say they’ve racked up $4,000 in overtime pay to watch after octuplet mom Nadya Suleman and her brood since they moved to a new home last month. Police spokeswoman Cindy Knapp says the city of La Habra, 40 km east of Los Angeles won’t ask Suleman to help pay for police escorts and patrols. Knapp says virtually all police services are free to residents of the community, the local Whittier Daily News reported on Friday. Last month, paparazzi swarmed Suleman’s house when she brought home the first two of eight babies she gave birth to on January 26. The unemployed single mom already had six children. — AP

Plane crash

OAKLAND PARK: A small plane crashed into a house shortly after taking off from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport Friday morning, slicing the home down the middle into two charred pieces. The plane, believed to be a twin-engine Cessna 421, crashed around 11:20 am, and the house burst into flames. The home, which is about three km from the airport, was vacant, authorities said. Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said one person was on board the plane, but it wasn’t known if that person survived. The plane was headed to Fernandina Beach where airport officials expected it to land around 1 pm. — AP

Palestinian killed

RAMALLAH: A 16-year-old Palestinian was fatally shot by Israeli troops after throwing firebombs at the gate of a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, Israeli officials said on Saturday. A 19-year-old, who was also from the Jalazoun refugee camp, was wounded in the leg in the same incident, Palestinian officials said. The Israeli military said the two were among a group of Palestinians who were throwing firebombs at the Beit El settlement. The soldiers opened fire on the group after firing warning shots, the military said. — AP

Pirates nabbed

THE HAGUE: The Dutch navy captured seven suspected Somali pirates and freed 20 captives in the strategic Gulf of Aden shipping lane on Saturday, Dutch and NATO authorities said. “This morning we intercepted a request for assistance from a Greek-owned ship from the Marshall Islands, the Handytankers Magic, that had fallen victim to a pirate attack,” Liuetenant Commander Alexandre Fernandes told AFP from aboard the Portuguese frigate Corte Real, which is under the NATO flag. “We immediately dispatched a Dutch NATO ship,” which found a fishing vessel at the scene with seven suspected pirates and 20 hostages on board. — AFP

Belgian ship seized

NAIROBI: Somali pirates attacked two ships off the Horn of Africa on Saturday, seizing one Belgian vessel carrying 10 crew. North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces intervened in the other assault, chasing the pirates down and freeing 20 fisherman on a Yemeni dhow hijacked earlier. — AP