WORLD IN BRIEF
AUSTRALIA Keeping Watch on Japanese Whaling Ships
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PAKISTAN
Two More Held in Bhutto Killing
Police arrested two more suspects Thursday in the suicide attack that killed opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, and thousands of her followers gathered at her tomb to mark the end of mourning for her and launch her party's campaign for this month's parliamentary election.
Officials briefed on the Scotland Yard inquiry into Bhutto's assassination told the New York Times that the probe found she died from the impact of the suicide bombing, not the bullets fired at her as she left a political rally. Officials also said the attack was carried out by a single attacker who blew himself up after opening fire.
The finding would support the Pakistani government's contention that Bhutto suffered a fatal head wound when she hit her head after the blast. Opponents of President Pervez Musharraf, many of whom suspect a broad conspiracy, have been highly skeptical of that theory, which is seen as minimizing the government's responsibility for a security breach that allowed the gunman to get close to Bhutto.
British diplomats are expected to release a summary of the report Friday.
RUSSIA
Gazprom Warns of Ukraine Cutoff
The state-controlled Russian company Gazprom threatened Thursday to rekindle a bitter dispute with Ukraine over energy supplies. A spokesman for Gazprom said the company will cut off natural gas exports to its neighbor next week unless Ukraine resolves $500 million in unpaid bills.
The Russian company said it will not cut off the flow of Central Asian natural gas that is pumped across Russian territory to Ukraine. The debt, the company said, is for Russian natural gas. But because much of the European Union's natural gas supply is piped across Ukraine, the threat of disruption is causing anxiety in Europe.
-- Peter Finn
KENYA
U.S. Threatens to Deny Visas
The Bush administration is wielding a visa weapon against prominent Kenyans who have allegedly encouraged weeks of post-election bloodshed, threatening to bar politicians and businessmen from visiting the United States, America's envoy in Kenya said Thursday. Ambassador Michael E. Ranneberger said others could also be targeted over suspicions they financed violence.
FRANCE
