WORLD IN BRIEF

Israeli Airstrikes Leave 7 Palestinians Dead

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GAZA CITY -- Israel killed four Palestinians Saturday in airstrikes targeting Hamas fighters as it tried to stop makeshift missiles being fired from the Gaza Strip. On Sunday, Israel killed three suspected Hamas fighters in one of four pre-dawn airstrikes in Gaza.

Earlier in the day, members of the militant group fired a rocket-propelled grenade at an Israeli army bulldozer inside the Gaza Strip, wounding two Israeli soldiers.

A 15-year-old youth was the fourth Palestinian to die in the airstrikes. Earlier, three men were killed when they were hit by a missile aimed at fighters launching rockets at Israel. Residents said they were shepherds, but Israel said they were militants.

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EUROPE

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· MOSCOW -- Russia has foiled a plot to kill the governor of St. Petersburg, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, the security officials said.

The Federal Security Service said two suspects had been detained on suspicion of involvement in an attempt on the life of Valentina Matviyenko. In a statement, the service said the two Russian nationals were detained Wednesday in possession of two hand grenades and more than a pound of plastic explosives.

· MOSCOW -- Eight correspondents have resigned from a Russian broadcast news agency to protest the management's decision to withhold stories in line with a new policy. The policy says that half the agency's coverage must portray the government in a "positive" light, journalists said.

The reported policy by the pro-Kremlin Russian News Service, which provides news broadcasts to Russia's most popular radio network and runs its own station, heightens concerns over President Vladimir Putin's moves to increasingly control or influence mass media.

ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

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· BEIJING -- An outbreak of a viral disease common in children has sickened nearly 900 people in eastern China but has been contained, state media said Saturday.

The outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease began in late April in the city of Linyi in Shandong province, the New China News Agency said. About 470 patients had recovered by Friday, and another 393 people -- mostly children -- were still sick, with more than half still in the hospital, the news agency said, citing a provincial health official.

Hand, foot and mouth disease is common in children and is characterized by fever, mouth sores and a rash with blisters.

· TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan's president renamed a landmark Taipei memorial honoring the late dictator Chiang Kai-shek, less than an hour after pro- and anti-government demonstrators fought running battles in an adjacent boulevard. Chen Shui-bian's decision to change the memorial's name to honor democracy activists came as the government campaigned to belittle Chiang's memory in the run-up to Taiwan's 2008 presidential elections.

· HYDERABAD, India -- At least two policemen were injured when a mob pelted them with stones after a burial of victims from a mosque explosion and ensuing violent clashes in the Indian city of Hyderabad.

Eleven people died in the explosion during Friday prayers at the sprawling 17th-century Mecca Masjid. Police later shot dead five people in clashes with hundreds of enraged Muslims who went on a rampage to protest against the attack.

Hundreds of people were returning Saturday after burying the dead when they started stoning the police, who had escorted them to the burial ground. Police fired eight rounds in the air and also used teargas to disperse the mob.

· KABUL -- In a rare attack in Afghanistan's relatively calm north, a suicide bomber detonated explosives next to German soldiers shopping in a crowded market, killing three of them, along with seven Afghan civilians, officials said.

The AMERICAS

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· CAP-HAITIEN, Haiti -- The remains of dozens of Haitian migrants who died when their boat capsized off the Turks and Caicos Islands were returned to their homeland and buried in a common grave, angering relatives who were not given a chance to identify their loved ones.

Family members clutching photographs of victims wept as the 59 bodies -- wrapped in black bags and marked "John Doe" or "Jane Doe" -- were unloaded from a cargo ship two weeks after one of the deadliest disasters to hit Haitians in years.

-- From News Services