World briefs 9/12/04

Explosion rocks area near Saudi-American Bank

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- An explosion, apparently from inside a moving taxi, went off Saturday near a Jiddah branch of the Saudi-American Bank, wounding one attacker, officials said. Several other militants fled the scene in a stolen vehicle to a neighborhood where the U.S. Consulate in Jiddah is located, the Arab television station Al-Arabiya reported. It said they took shelter in an uninhabited house about 700 yards from the consulate. Bank officials said that while the explosion was near the Jiddah branch of the Saudi-American bank, though not directly outside it. Several bank officials, all speaking on condition of anonymity, said a "small explosion" took place in a car in the neighborhood at about 9 a.m., and nobody in the bank was hurt.

U.S. envoy urges Syria to pull troops from Lebanon

DAMASCUS, Syria -- A senior U.S. diplomat urged Syria's president Saturday to withdraw his country's troops from Lebanon and stop interfering in internal Lebanese affairs, a message delivered at a time when Syrian-American relations have been particularly strained. William J. Burns, the highest ranking U.S. official to visit Damascus in more than a year, also said Syria must take "concrete action" to cooperate with the U.S.-led war on terrorism by halting support for militant Palestinian factions based on its territory and preventing anti-U.S. Arab fighters from infiltrating into Iraq. Syria sent troops to Lebanon in 1976 to help quell the civil war, then just a year old. The troops have remained, and Lebanon's government repeatedly has said that the presence of the Syrian army has been a stabilizing factor. Syria has since become the supreme power in Lebanon, often mediating among feuding politicians.

Israeli troops pull out of northern Gaza Strip

BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip -- Israeli troops moved out of the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday after a four-day operation that left eight Palestinians dead, more than 100 wounded and tens of thousands without electricity or running water. Hours later, Palestinians lobbed mortar shells at an Israeli settlement in the strip. At daybreak, tanks drove away from the towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun and the outskirts of the sprawling Jebaliya refugee camp, from where Palestinian militants frequently fire rockets at Jewish settlements and Israeli border towns. The tanks left two dozen demolished homes behind them. It was unclear why the army withdrew.

Trove of 10th-century artifacts discovered

A metal-detecting enthusiast wandering on a farm in northwestern England has unearthed a rare Viking graveyard, probably dating from the early 10th century, that was the final resting place of four warriors and two women. Although the bones of the Vikings long ago were destroyed by the highly acidic soil, the six graves have yielded swords, spears, jewelry, spurs and a possible horse harness -- the richest trove of artifacts ever found in England. The finds suggest that these Vikings were not the fierce seafarers depicted in Norse legends, but high-status settlers who seemed to straddle the pagan and Christian worlds. The bodies were buried in the east-west alignment typical of Christian burials of the period, but they were accompanied by all the grave goods they would need for a pagan afterlife. The women had rich brooches, ornate belt fittings and bracelets of highly polished jet, a highly prized form of stone.

'Vera Drake' wins best film at Venice Film Festival

VENICE, Italy -- Mike Leigh's "Vera Drake," a film about an underground abortionist in 1950s England, won the Golden Lion for best picture Saturday at the close of the 11-day Venice Film Festival. "Vera Drake" is another of Leigh's raw, naturalistic films dealing with social issues in Britain. This time the setting is London of half a century ago, where a seemingly unexceptional housewife is secretly performing abortions. Leigh, 61, is famous for drawing out stunning performances from his actors, and this time was no different, with Imelda Staunton taking best actress for her role as Drake.

-- From wire reports