Around the World

AUSTRIA

IAEA Fails to Elect New Leader

International Atomic Energy Agency governors failed to agree on a successor to Director General Mohamed ElBaradei on Friday after five rounds of voting, opening the field to new candidates who might bridge divisions of rich and poor.

The IAEA, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, was hoping to avoid a long delay in installing a new chief as it confronts mounting challenges, including Iran's disputed pursuit of nuclear technology that could yield atomic bombs and a shortage of money needed to uphold its anti-proliferation mandate.

Yukiya Amano, Japan's envoy to the IAEA, was the favorite but fell a vote short of the two-thirds majority required in the final vote by the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors. Voting was split largely along rich- and poor-nation lines. Industrialized states backed Amano, developing states South Africa's Abdul Samad Minty.

THE PHILIPPINES

Red Cross Pleads for Hostages

The International Committee of the Red Cross asked Philippine authorities Friday to consider demands by Islamic militants holding three ICRC staff members hostage to pull back their security forces.

ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger made the rare public appeal in response to the abductors' threats to kill one of the aid workers Monday if their demands were unmet. The rebel group has a history of beheading captives.

Earlier in the day, the Philippines rejected the demand from the al-Qaeda-linked rebels.

JAPAN

WWII-Era Claim Rejected

A Japanese court turned down a damages suit Friday filed by Chinese citizens who were brought to Japan to perform forced labor at a copper mine during World War II.

The suit, filed in 2004 by eight plaintiffs, sought $1.9 million from Japan's government and Mitsubishi Materials, the successor to the mine's operator.

A 1972 agreement that normalized relations between the countries stated that China renounced its demand for war reparations from Japan. The agreement did not discuss an individual's right to claim war reparations, but a 2007 precedent-setting judgment decided that Chinese individuals had no judicial right to reparations from Japan.

Afghan Soldier Kills 2 U.S. Troops

An Afghan army soldier fatally shot two U.S. troops and wounded a third before killing himself in northeastern Afghanistan on Friday, the American military said.

Detainee in Kenya Not Mladic

Kenyan police released a tour operator Friday who was wrongly suspected of being the fugitive Bosnian Serbian military commander Ratko Mladic. A day earlier, police arrested the man -- a 67-year-old Croat who has lived in Kenya for nearly two decades -- on suspicion of war crimes in the former Yugoslavia. When Interpol said fingerprint and other checks confirmed he was not Mladic, 67, police freed him without charge.

From Wire Services