World briefs 10/8/06

Iraqi forces launch sweep in Kirkuk

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Thousands of Iraqi troops launched a crackdown in Kirkuk on Saturday, ordering residents to stay in their homes in an effort to put down violence that has swelled in the north amid efforts to rein in bloodshed in Baghdad. Elsewhere in the north, a suicide bomber rammed a police checkpoint with an explosives-packed car, killing 14 people in the town of Tal Afar. It was the deadliest attack in a day that saw 26 Iraqis killed around the country. Thousands of U.S. and Iraqi troops have been carrying out an intensified sweep of Baghdad since August, searching neighborhood by neighborhood to root out insurgents and militias who have killed thousands this year. But at the same time, shootings, bombings and other attacks has been swelling in northern areas such as Kirkuk and Mosul.

Group decries 'new Danish insults' to Islam

CAIRO, Egypt -- Egypt's largest Islamic group, the Muslim Brotherhood, denounced on Saturday what it called "new Danish insults" to Islam a day after word spread about a Web video showing young members of a populist Danish political party mocking the Prophet Muhammad. The Brotherhood, which enjoys wide popularity in Egypt and the Arab World, urged Muslims to boycott products from Denmark and any other country that would allow such an "insult." The story, first reported by the Danish daily newspaper Nyhedsavisen on Friday, came in the aftermath of violent protests after 12 drawings of the Prophet Muhammad were published last year by another Danish newspaper. Video clips of a drawing contest among the young politicians, in their 20s and 30s, were posted on some Web sites after the annual Aug. 4-6 camp. In the videos, it appeared that they had been drinking. Nearly all of the approximately 30 people shown in the videos had their faces blurred, but the images they drew were clearly visible.

Spanish politician bares all in election campaign

BARCELONA, Spain -- Albert Rivera's nude body is everywhere to be seen -- just what he wants as he runs for president of Catalonia. Rivera has filled the streets of Barcelona and other Catalan cities with thousands of posters of him in the buff. The 26-year-old lawyer knows his campaign to lead this powerful northeastern Spanish region is a long shot. But he hopes at least to get voters talking about something else besides their role within Spain and whether they should speak Catalan or Spanish. His gimmick has brought attention to his fledgling Ciutadans, or Citizens, party as it tries to win seats in the Catalonia parliament Nov. 1. Rivera acknowledges using nudity is "pure marketing" designed to buck tradition, grab headlines and lure young voters.

--From wire reports