Blackhawk helicopter crashes at US base

       The US military says a Blackhawk helicopter has crashed at a US base in Iraq, killing 1 service member and wounding 12 others.
       The military says the helicopter went down on Saturday night at the Balad Air Base, 80km north of Baghdad. It says the cause of the crash is unknown and under investigation.
       The name of the service member killed is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. With Saturday's death, at least 4,345 members of the US military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003.
       Balad Air Base is home to about 20,000 US forces. It provides air power, logistics and counterterrorism support, as well as training for Iraqi security forces.
       Meanwhile, in Kirkuk, Iraqi soldiers arrested three smugglers who were trying to sell artefacts from the Sumerian era,the earliest known human civilisation that existed in southern Mesopotamia from about 8,000 years ago.
       Undercover agents posed as buyers for the artefacts on Saturday, according to the army chief of Kirkuk province.
       The eight artefacts included a clay bust of what is believed to be a Sumerian king, a small jar and stamps from the royal Sumerian court.
       The smugglers wanted $160,000(5.4 million baht) for all eight pieces. Iraq is struggling to recover ancient treasures stolen in a massive looting spree in Baghdad, sparked by the US-led invasion six-and-a-half years ago.