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INDIA
Kashmiri separatist agrees to new talks
A major separatist leader in Indian-controlled Kashmir agreed Tuesday to take part in direct talks with New Delhi to settle a six-decades-long dispute over the Himalayan region.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq's decision offers some hope in the long-stalled effort to resolve the conflict. However, three previous rounds of talks ended in failure, and other separatist leaders appeared divided over whether to try again.
Farooq, head of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, an alliance of separatist groups, said negotiations should eventually lead to three-way talks among Kashmiri leaders, India and Pakistan. The Himalayan region is divided between the nuclear-armed neighbors, who have fought two wars over it.
Kashmiri separatist groups have been fighting since 1989 to end Indian rule in the region. More than 68,000 people, mostly civilians, have died in the conflict.
-- Associated Press
BRAZIL
2 largest cities hit by blackouts
A top Brazilian official says blackouts that darkened Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, as well as other areas, on Tuesday were caused by the failure of a hydroelectric dam that supplies the nation with 20 percent of its electricity.
Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobão said authorities do not know why the dam went offline, but he said a possible cause was a large storm near the dam on the Brazil-Paraguay border.
The blackouts came three days after CBS's "60 Minutes" news program reported that several past Brazilian power outages were caused by hackers. Brazilian officials had played down the report before the latest outages.
