World briefs 9/23/04

Female suicide bomber kills two at bus stop

JERUSALEM -- A Palestinian teenager blew herself up at a busy Jerusalem bus station Wednesday, killing two Israeli policemen who stopped her for a security check and wounding 16 bystanders in an attack that evaded Israel's clampdown on the West Bank for the Jewish holidays. Hours later, an Israeli helicopter fired a missile in a Gaza refugee camp, wounding 12 people, Palestinians said. Also Wednesday, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon dropped a plan to evacuate 21 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip simultaneously at the beginning of next year, reverting to an earlier formula -- a staged pullout in the summer of 2005.

China: Summer flooding killed 1,029 people

BEIJING -- Flooding in China during this summer's rainy season killed 1,029 people in mudslides and mountain torrents, the government said Wednesday. Heavy rains also destroyed tens of thousands of houses and caused $7.8 billion in damage during the three-month rainy season, which ended Sept. 15, according to the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters. China regularly suffers deadly flooding during its summer rainy season despite a network of thousands of miles of river dikes and other protections.

U.S. soldier reported killed in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan -- An attack on a patrol killed an American soldier, the third U.S. fatality this week in Afghanistan, the military said Wednesday, amid a flurry of attacks that wounded over a dozen Americans in the run-up to the Oct. 9 presidential election. Meanwhile, a group of 11 prisoners, including a former Taliban commander, arrived home from the U.S. jail at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Another 10 detainees were transferred from Afghanistan to the U.S. naval base, the Pentagon said.

-- From wire reports

NATO will train Iraqi military officers

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- NATO allies agreed Wednesday to expand the alliance's training mission for Iraqi armed forces after allaying French concerns which had delayed the plans for a week. NATO is expected to send about 300 officers into Iraq to set up and run a military academy outside Baghdad, broadening the mission that began last month with the deployment of 40 NATO instructors.

Syrian soldiers dismantle camps near Beirut

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Syrian soldiers dismantled their camps in the hills above Beirut on Wednesday, and the United States praised the move but said Syria must still end its political dominance of Lebanon. Troops were seen taking down telephone lines and packing equipment at bases near the western towns of Aramoun, Chuwiefat, Damour, Doha and Khaldeh. About 3,000 Syrian troops were to redeploy from around Beirut to eastern Lebanon, probably to the Bekaa Valley near the Syrian border, where most of Syria's 20,000 troops in Lebanon are located.

Poverty, terror link concerns developing countries

UNITED NATIONS -- The battle against terrorists is being won but the "ultimate war" against terrorism will be lost if the roots of the problem aren't addressed, Pakistan's president told the U.N. General Assembly's ministerial meeting Wednesday, echoing a theme raised by leaders of many developing countries. The leaders stressed that the priorities of the developing world are receiving little more than self-serving lip service and that the United Nations, by virtue of having policies dictated by wealthy nations, has failed to substantively tackle key issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Ukrainian presidential candidate allegedly poisoned

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into the alleged poisoning of a leading candidate in a crucial presidential election scheduled for next month, officials said. The candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, became sick more than two weeks ago, and his campaign charged that he was poisoned by political opponents. The allegations have roiled the already heated race to replace outgoing President Leonid Kuchma.

Lebanon says it has captured top al-Qaida operative

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Lebanon said Wednesday it had arrested the top al-Qaida operative in the country and another man linked to Osama bin Laden's terrorist group who were plotting to blow up foreign embassies in Beirut, assassinate Western diplomats and recruit insurgents to fight U.S.-led forces in Iraq. Senior security officials said the two Lebanese men arrested Friday along with eight accomplices were also planning to attack Lebanese security and judicial targets.

Al-Qaida-linked training in Philippines for at least seven years

MANILA, Philippines -- A secret government report says Muslim guerrillas in the southern Philippines have hosted terror training camps for militant groups from Indonesia and Malaysia for at least seven years -- a period when Southeast Asia was plagued by bombings that have killed hundreds of people, like the Bali nightclub attack in 2002. The training lasted at least until 19 new members of Jemaah Islamiyah -- the al-Qaida-linked Southeast Asian terror group -- finished in January, according to a copy of the government security assessment report.

Europe appeals for residents to bike, walk

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Hundreds of European cities and towns restricted auto traffic Wednesday, part of the continent's annual campaign to lower air pollution by encouraging commuters to use public transportation, bicycles or their feet instead of their cars. More than 1,500 municipalities, chiefly in Europe, participated in the seventh annual car-free day campaign by setting up roadblocks to prevent nonessential automobile traffic from entering city centers. The campaign also spread to cities in Japan and South America.

Hundreds of Russian protesters clash with riot police

ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia -- Hundreds of protesters demanding that a local leader step down clashed with riot police Wednesday in an impoverished region of southern Russia, authorities said. Riot police beat protesters with truncheons and riot shields and dragged people away in scuffles that injured as many as 15 people in the remote Kalmykia region. Police arrested more than 85 people, authorities said.

Japan confirms 13th case of mad cow

TOKYO -- Japan confirmed its 13th case of mad cow disease Wednesday after a slaughtered Holstein tested positive for the brain-wasting illness, a government food safety official said. The 8-year-old dairy cow in Nara prefecture, or state, was found to have the illness after an exam given by a state-run infectious disease research institute in Tokyo, said Seiichiro Minese of the Nara food safety office.

-- From wire reports