WORLD IN BRIEF

PAKISTAN

Bhutto Visits Families of Bombing Victims

Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto visited the families of people killed in a suicide bombing that struck her convoy, touring a poor neighborhood Sunday in Larkana in a visit kept secret until the last minute to protect her from another assassination attempt.

Bhutto toured Larkana, near her ancestral village, a day after beginning her first trip outside Karachi since the Oct. 18 attack there that shattered a mass rally to welcome her home and left 145 people dead.

COLOMBIA

Voting Appears to Proceed Peacefully

Colombians voted without reports of disturbances for governors, mayors and municipal assemblies Sunday after a campaign marked by violence. The election and its outcome could test how far President ¿lvaro Uribe, a U.S. ally, has curbed the influence of right-wing paramilitary groups. Violence by armed groups has eased under Uribe, but at least 21 candidates were killed while campaigning. The attacks were mostly attributed to the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

SOMALIA

Protests Continue Against Ethiopian Troops

Hundreds of protesters demanding the departure of government-allied Ethiopian troops burned tires and threw stones Sunday in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, as some of the worst violence in months continued for a second day. Two demonstrators were wounded when Ethiopian troops fired toward protesters, witnesses said.

BRITAIN

Attempt to Blackmail a Royal Is Reported

A newspaper reported that police have arrested two men over an attempt to blackmail a member of the British royal family with an alleged sex tape. London police said that two men, 30 and 40, were charged with blackmail and ordered detained until a hearing Dec. 20. Buckingham Palace said it would have no comment.

The Sunday Times said the alleged blackmailers had approached the unnamed family member and demanded $100,000 not to publicize a video allegedly showing the royal engaged in a sex act. The pair also claimed to have evidence suggesting the royal had supplied an aide with cocaine, the newspaper said.

INDIA

Marchers Call Attention to Dispossessed

About 27,000 Indians arrived in New Delhi on Sunday, ending a month-long march to draw attention to the plight of those dispossessed of their land by government-backed projects.