Around the World

Sunday, July 20, 2008

INDIA

Blast in Indian Kashmir Kills at Least 10 Troops

A bomb exploded near an army convoy in Indian Kashmir on Saturday, killing at least 10 soldiers and wounding 14 others, a police official said.

Hizbul Mujaheddin, Indian Kashmir's largest rebel group, asserted responsibility for the attack in a telephone call to a local news agency.

The Himalayan region of Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and is claimed by both.

BRITAIN

Militia Says Hostage Dies

A Shiite militia that claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of five Britons in Iraq more than a year ago said one of its hostages committed suicide, a British newspaper reported.

The Sunday Times of London published what it said was a statement in a video it obtained from the group through an intermediary in Iraq.

The video, available late Saturday on the Times Web site, shows an Arabic-language statement claiming that one of the hostages -- identified only as Jason -- killed himself May 25.

The newspaper said the statement blamed the British government for ignoring previous statements that the kidnappers and the captives have made. In the past, the militia has demanded that all British forces be withdrawn from Iraq and that Iraqis held by U.S.-led forces be freed.

CHINA

Police Kill 2 in Yunnan

Chinese police killed two people in a clash with local residents in Menglian county, a rubber-farming area in southwestern China's Yunnan province with a large ethnic minority population, the official New China News Agency said Saturday.

The police fired baton guns after they were attacked by about 400 residents, the agency said. Thirteen policemen and a resident were injured in the incident.

Local sources said some of those involved were farmers who had taken part in violent protests against a local rubber firm.

China faces thousands of protests and riots every year, most of them small and never openly reported.

NEPAL

Vote on President Fails

The new republic of Nepal failed to elect its first president Saturday when none of the three candidates was able to muster the majority needed to begin the process of forming a new government.

Nepal has been in political limbo since April, when former Maoist rebels won a historic election that left them short of a parliamentary majority but enabled them to form a special assembly and abolish the 239-year-old monarchy.

MEXICO

Kennedy Given Honor

Mexico has awarded U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy the country's highest honor for his work defending the rights of immigrants during his decades in Congress.

The Mexican government said in its official gazette that it presented the Aztec Eagle honor to the Massachusetts Democrat in Washington on Friday.

"He has denounced injustices suffered by immigrants" and "promoted initiatives to promote full political participation and increased access to health and education services for the Mexican-American community," the official announcement said.

Temple Standoff in Fifth Day

Cambodia and Thailand continued to reinforce their troops along a disputed border area near the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple, even as they prepared for talks Monday to avert a military confrontation. Cambodian Brig. Gen. Chea Keo said Cambodia had about 800 troops, compared with 400 Thai soldiers in the area as the standoff entered a fifth day.

Israelis Kill Syrian Smuggler

Israeli troops killed a drug smuggler from Syria and wounded another as the men crossed a fence into territory controlled by Israel on the occupied Golan Heights, the Israeli army said.

Picasso Print Recovered in Brazil

Police recovered a Pablo Picasso print and arrested one person in connection with an armed robbery at Sao Paulo's Pinacoteca Museum last month. The print, Picasso's "The Painter and the Model," from 1963, was one of four works taken in broad daylight June 12.

From News Services