World Digest

PAKISTAN

Blast in Northwest Kills at Least 30

A suicide bomber killed at least 30 people and wounded 40 others attending Friday prayers at a mosque in Pakistan's northwest, as the country's leaders pressed a visiting U.S. envoy for more aid to stave off Taliban-led militancy.

There was no immediate assertion of responsibility for the blast at the Sunni Muslim mosque in Upper Dir, adjacent to Swat.

Also Friday, four soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in the northwestern tribal region of South Waziristan, according to intelligence officials.

In a meeting with visiting U.S. special envoy Richard C. Holbrooke, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani asked that the United States write off Pakistan's debt, according to Gillani's office.

Holbrooke did not directly address the request in a news conference Friday, but he said he would meet with Treasury and State Department officials when he returns to Washington "to see what additional things we can do to assist."

-- Associated Press

29 Mexican Children Die in Fire: At least 29 children have been killed in a fire that spread from a warehouse to a day-care facility in the northern Mexican city of Hermosillo, officials said. Dozens more have been hospitalized, according to a justice department spokesman. About 100 children were reportedly inside when the day-care center caught fire.

U.N. Condemns Guinea-Bissau Killings: U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon is "dismayed" by the latest political assassinations in Guinea-Bissau and an "emerging pattern of killings of high-profile personalities," his press office said. On Friday, the West African country's Interior Ministry said it had foiled a coup plot, with government soldiers shooting dead three current and former government ministers. President Joao Bernardo Vieira was killed by the army in March.

Red Cross Aids Zimbabwe Prisoners: The International Committee of the Red Cross has started distributing food to 6,300 inmates of Zimbabwe's prisons hit by serious food shortages. Hundreds of prisoners have died of malnutrition since January, according to rights groups.

Canada Says No to Detainees: Canada has rejected U.S. requests to take in Guantanamo detainees, becoming the third U.S. ally after Germany and Australia to hinder efforts to close the prison in Cuba.

Venezuela Moves Against TV Channel: Venezuela's tax agency ordered an anti-government television channel to pay $2.3 million in back taxes, a day after the station's owner was charged in a separate investigation. Globovisión said the actions were intended to intimidate and silence critics of President Hugo Chávez.

80 Chinese Missing in Landslide: At least 80 people were feared buried when part of a mountain collapsed in a massive landslide in a remote area of southwestern China. Seven people have been pulled out alive.

Palestinian Killed in Barrier Protest: Israeli security forces killed a Palestinian man during a demonstration against construction of Israel's separation barrier near Ramallah.

-- From News Services