World briefs 14A

Putin pitches visa-free travel between Russia, EU

STRELNA, Russia -- The leaders of Russia and the European Union sought Saturday to allay Russian fears about the Western bloc's eastward expansion and engage each other more in solving common problems ranging from illegal migration to terrorism.

The 15 EU countries were joined by 10 joining next year, including eight of Moscow's former satellites. Some made their remarks in Russian as a courtesy to the host, despite lingering post-Soviet tensions.

With visas to enter the West extremely difficult for ordinary Russians to get, Putin said many saw the EU expansion as a "new Berlin Wall," further constricting their freedom of movement.

EU leaders agreed to examine visa-free travel, but only "as a long-term perspective." The EU wants Russia to tighten controls on its long, porous borders first and make Russian passports harder to forge.

Jihad encourages women to be suicide bombers

NABLUS, West Bank -- A 19-year-old woman who blew herself up at an Israeli mall nearly two weeks ago has raised something of a feminist debate among Palestinians: Should women hop over conservative societal barriers to join the almost exclusively male ranks of suicide bombers?

As Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas struggles to reach a cease-fire with militant groups, at least one of them -- Islamic Jihad -- has been looking for stealthier attack methods, turning to women who can slip through military checkpoints more easily than men, raising less suspicion.

Hiba Daraghmeh -- who blew herself up and killed three Israelis at a mall in Afula on May 19 -- was the first female bomber dispatched by Islamic Jihad.

Three U.S. soldiers, Iraqi child dead in accidents

BAGHDAD, Iraq-- Three U.S. soldiers, part of a unit attached to the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division, were killed and six more injured in a traffic accident in northern Iraq, the military said Saturday.

In a separate incident, two U.S. soldiers driving a supply vehicle Friday morning struck and killed an Iraqi child who was crossing the road, the military said in a statement.

It said the soldiers called for a helicopter to evacuate the child, who died before the aircraft arrived. The statement gave no further details.

Wolfowitz: Use economic pressure on North Korea

SINGAPORE -- With impoverished North Korea on the brink of collapse, the United States wants nations in the region to use economic pressure to force it to halt its nuclear ambitions, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said Saturday.

Wolfowitz made the comments at a gathering of Asian and Western defense and security chiefs that dealt with the standoff over North Korea, as well as the region's fight against terrorism.

North Korea "is teetering on the edge of economic collapse," Wolfowitz told the delegates. "That, I believe, is a major point of leverage."

The United States could eventually pursue economic sanctions against North Korea through the U.N. Security Council. Pyongyang has said such a step would amount to a declaration of war.

A top South Korean official warned that sanctions would only hurt innocent North Koreans.

Palestinians:America accepts cease-fire plan

JERUSALEM -- The United States accepts a Palestinian plan to persuade militant groups to halt anti-Israeli attacks rather than launch an immediate crackdown, the Palestinians said Saturday ahead of a three-way summit with President Bush.

Israel has said that for now it would accept a cease-fire from the militants, though it wants Palestinian officials to act to disarm and disband the groups as soon as possible.

The security issue has been a main sticking point in starting the U.S.-backed road map to peace -- a three-stage plan aimed at creating a Palestinian state in 2005.

-- From wire reports