File-destroying worm does little damage so far

A file-destroying computer worm set to activate Friday caused relatively little damage in Asia and Europe, although one Italian city shut down computers as a precaution. Hundreds of thousands of computers were believed to be infected, but many companies and individuals had time to clean up their machines this week after security vendors and media outlets warned of the "Kama Sutra" worm. In Milan, Italy, technicians switched off more than 10,000 computers after discovering the infection Thursday and deciding they didn't have enough time to clean the machines. "It has spread to all our computers," said Giancarlo Martella, Milan's councilman for technological innovation and public services. "Knowing how destructive it is, we turned off all personal computers to avoid losing our data." Only the municipality's registry office had been kept open because its "passive terminals" don't store data, Martella said, adding he hoped the computers would return to normal by Monday. Experts had warned earlier that the worm, also known as "CME-24," "BlackWorm," or "Mywife.E," could corrupt documents using the most common file types, including ".doc," ".pdf," and ".zip."

Israel launches airstrike after attack on troops

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Hezbollah guerrillas attacked an Israeli military position in a disputed part of the south Lebanon border on Friday, provoking a swift Israeli airstrike on suspected Hezbollah sites, Lebanese security officials said. Hezbollah said in a statement that its bombardment of rockets and shells was in retaliation for the killing by Israel this week of a Lebanese person who went missing in the border area on Wednesday. Hezbollah added it attacked the same Israeli position that fired the shots which killed the person. The Israeli army said Hezbollah fired a barrage of rockets at an Israeli military position in Chebaa Farms. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

U.S. general says forces ready to repel N. Korea

YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea -- The top U.S. general said Friday that allied troops could turn back any North Korean attack but acknowledged that predicting Pyongyang's actions was not easy. Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the military needed to be prepared to dissuade the nation from using or proliferating atomic weapons, including "either the weapons themselves or the components of those weapons." Pace, speaking during a visit to Seoul, declined to give specifics when asked about the North's nuclear capability. North Korea claimed a year ago to have nuclear weapons, but has not performed any known tests to prove its arsenal.

Clinic where Coretta Scott King died is closed

MEXICO CITY -- The Mexican clinic where Coretta Scott King died has been closed, U.S. Embassy officials said Friday. Mexican officials weren't immediately available to explain why the clinic was shut. But Judith Bryan, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, said the U.S. consulate in Tijuana was helping patients find new facilities. The consulate's spokeswoman, Liza Davis, said 20 American patients were at the clinic when it was closed Thursday. Mexican authorities gave the Americans three days to leave the country.

Nearly 60 rounded up in security crackdown

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraqi police and soldiers rounded up nearly 60 people Friday in security crackdowns in Baghdad and the southern city of Basra, and the U.S. military reported the death of an American soldier in a bombing. At least 22 people were detained and weapons were seized in raids launched before dawn Friday in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, the Iraqi army said. An additional 37 people -- including five Palestinians and a Syrian -- were arrested in pre-dawn raids in Baghdad's Dora district, the Interior Ministry said. The neighborhood is a mostly Sunni Arab area and has been the scene of frequent bombings, ambushes and assassinations.

-- From wire reports