Around the World

IRAQ

NPR Crew Narrowly Avoids Car Bombing

An American journalist for National Public Radio and three Iraqi colleagues escaped injury Sunday when a bomb attached to their car exploded while the vehicle was parked along a street in Baghdad.

Ivan Watson, 33, a reporter for NPR on temporary assignment in Iraq, said he had gone to interview people in a kebab cafe a few yards from an Iraqi army checkpoint. Watson, who is based in Istanbul, was accompanied by producer and translator Ali Hamdani and two drivers who refused to be named for security reasons.

The group returned to the armored car, which was parked in front of the cafe, after about 45 minutes but were stopped by Iraqi soldiers who said they had been informed minutes earlier that a bomb was attached to the vehicle, Watson said. The bomb destroyed the car but caused no injuries.

Iraqi soldiers said they had arrested a suspect, an egg vendor thought to have family links to a member of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

VENEZUELA

Chávez Pushes Effort To Remain in Office

President Hugo Chávez asked supporters at a rally Sunday in Caracas to propose a constitutional change that would allow him to seek reelection indefinitely and give him more time to build a socialist economy in Venezuela.

"We are going to begin the national debate," he told a crowd in the capital.

Chávez, who was elected in 1998, is barred from running again when his term expires in 2013. Voters last year rejected constitutional changes that would have ended presidential term limits.

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Attack Kills 7 in Pakistan

Seven people were killed Monday in a suicide attack aimed at a military checkpoint in northwest Pakistan's Swat Valley, military officials said.

Meanwhile, in the northwestern city of Peshawar, insurgents attacked a terminal used by trucks ferrying supplies to NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan, destroying three trucks and wounding one person, police and a witness said.

Romania Vote Favors Opposition

Romania's Social Democratic Party appeared to win the parliamentary election, boosting its chances of returning to power after four years in opposition. The party will have to negotiate a coalition arrangement with opposition rivals.

Ransom Set for Pirate-Held Ship

Somali pirates have agreed on a ransom for the Ukrainian freighter MV Faina, and the ship could be released within days, said a spokesman for the vessel's owner. He would not give the amount but suggested it was far lower than the initial demand for $20 million.

Iraq, Iran Exchange Remains

Iraq and Iran exchanged the remains of 241 soldiers killed during the 1980-1988 war between the two countries. It was the first such handover since the two sides signed an agreement in October to trace tens of thousands missing after the war.

From News Services