World briefs

Israeli troops clamp down on West Bank town

JERUSALEM -- Israeli troops searched the West Bank town of Jenin on Saturday for Palestinian militants involved in a suicide bombing, and a U.S. envoy left the region with neither side optimistic about the latest peace proposal.

In an army operation that began Friday, soldiers imposed a curfew on the 50,000 residents of Jenin and its refugee camp and began searching from house to house after dark Saturday. The army said soldiers arrested 30 suspects including a bomber on the way to an attack and two relatives of one of the two teenage suicide bombers who carried out an attack on a bus last Monday that killed 14 people.

Hurricane Kenna roars into Puerto Vallarta

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico -- Hurricane Kenna roared to shore north of this resort city known for half-priced beer and breathtaking sunsets, unleashing a wall of water that tore apart a seafront famous to millions of tourists and sent waves washing down streets and through hotel lobbies.

With the hurricane itself dissipated over northern Mexico on Saturday, tourists who had come for a relaxed vacation found themselves strolling past devastated hotels after the hurricane struck Friday.

"We had a room facing east, so we really didn't think that much of it until we saw two feet of water running through the lobby. That got our attention," said Wayne Johnson, a Minnesota tourist starting the second week of his vacation.

Kenna, once a Category 5 hurricane with 160 mph winds, pummeled Puerto Vallarta as it passed by offshore on Friday.

U.S.-born candidate wins Athens public office

ATHENS, Greece -- Hours after becoming one of the first non-Greeks to win public office, U.S.-born Yvette Jarvis said she'll work to help immigrants during her term on the Athens City Council.

Jarvis is the first black American elected to office in a country that has historically been ethnically and racially homogenous, and is struggling to assimilate thousands of foreign newcomers.

"No one looks at me like I am a foreigner. I am in the privileged position of them accepting me as one of them," she said. "I am a Greek."

U.N. links Bali bombers to al-Qaida network

UNITED NATIONS -- The Southeast Asian network suspected in the Bali bombings two weeks ago was placed Friday on a U.N. list of groups and individuals with ties to al-Qaida.

Jemaah Islamiyah's goal is to build an Islamic state in Muslim areas of Southeast Asia.

In a joint report prepared for the United Nations and obtained by The Associated Press, Australia and the United States wrote that the organization has "established links to al-Qaida based on a shared ideology and cooperation in relation to terrorist activities."

-- From wire reports