Canada's outgoing leader defends 'long goodbye'

TORONTO -- Prime Minister Jean Chretien dismissed concern Thursday that his decision to step down in 18 months will bring more of the party infighting that has Canadians believing their government is nearly paralyzed.

Chretien's announcement Wednesday that he would not seek a fourth straight term triggered fears that the wait until he steps down -- dubbed the "long goodbye" by the media -- was too long and the fight to succeed him would leave his Liberal Party incapable of governing effectively.

Chretien denied that at a news conference following a Liberal Party caucus meeting in Saguenay, Quebec. Asked if 18 months was too long, he responded: "No. Next."

Russian man threatens to explode truck by office

MOSCOW -- Security officers detained a man who threatened to blow up his truck in front of Russia's Federal Security Services headquarters in Moscow on Thursday, the Moscow police press service said.

The officers seized an automatic rifle from the man, identified by Russian media as Vladimir Shirokov. In footage shown on Russian television, he got out of the truck and was taken into custody after being thrown to the ground, frisked and handcuffed.

Authorities searched the truck and found no explosives inside, the Russian Interior Ministry press service said. They found bags of cement, a remote control for an explosive device, a spool of wire and mock-ups of automatic rifles, the Interfax news agency said, citing the Federal Security Service.

The incident began when the man was stopped by traffic police near the Security Service building. He told them his small, white truck was filled with explosives and his body rigged with bombs, and he demanded talks with high-ranking government officials, the Interfax and ITAR-Tass news agencies said.

Crashes, landslides leave over 100 dead in Nepal

KATMANDU, Nepal -- A small plane crash, a bus accident and a landslide that swept away dozens of houses have left at least 128 people feared dead in Nepal, including an American and 14 other foreign tourists, police said Thursday.

The tragedies come as the poor Himalayan nation struggles with annual monsoon rains that have killed more than 500 people in the past month.

On Thursday, a Canadian-built Twin Otter carrying 13 Germans, an American, a Briton and three crew members slammed into a hillside as it approached the western resort town of Pokhara, killing everyone on board, Pokhara police chief Kumar Koirala said.

The tourist flight was coming from Jomson, a popular trekking route and Hindu religious site.

Man convicted of arson in fatal fireworks blast

ALMELO, Netherlands -- A former kickboxer who had boasted to friends about starting fires was convicted of arson and sentenced to 15 years in prison Thursday for a fireworks explosion that killed 22 people and flattened an entire neighborhood.

Andre De Vries, 34, was found guilty of igniting a fireworks depot that triggered a series of powerful explosions on May 13, 2000 in the eastern Dutch town of Enschede. Hundreds were injured in the blast, 100 miles east of Amsterdam, near the German border.

Cadbury apologizes for ad satirizing Kashmir region

BOMBAY, India -- Confectionery giant Cadbury has apologized for an advertisement that compared disputed Indian-controlled Kashmir region to a chocolate that was "too good to share."

The ad appeared in a Bombay newspaper on Aug. 15, India's Independence Day, and featured a map highlighting the boundaries of India's Jammu-Kashmir state -- the Indian-controlled part of a region both India and Pakistan claim as their own.

Below the map, the ad reads "Issued in the spirit of Independence Day by Cadbury Temptations -- International chocolates you'd love to share but won't."

--From wire reports