World briefs 9A

Surge in violence leaves 10 dead in Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India -- A surge of violence in Indian-controlled Kashmir left 10 people dead and more than 20 injured on Saturday.

In the first attack, a timed bomb exploded on a busy street in the Khanyar neighborhood of Srinagar, the summer capital of India's Jammu-Kashmir state.

Police said the bomb was aimed at a police van carrying detainees to a court, but it exploded before the vehicle arrived. Three policemen and six civilians, including two children, were hurt. Hours later, suspected rebels shot and wounded two policemen who were patrolling the area.

In another part of Srinagar, unidentified gunmen fired at a crowd outside the city's main mosque, killing a police informer and a bystander. Suspected militants killed another police informer in the town of Lolab, 50 miles northwest of Srinagar, authorities said.

British firefighters end walkout, prepare another

LONDON -- British firefighters left their picket lines Saturday and returned to their station houses as planned after an eight-day strike over pay, but they stressed they were back only temporarily.

The first national walkout by firefighters in 25 years has left Britain relying for protection on 19,000 soldiers and their antiquated military fire trucks.

With their union and Prime Minister Tony Blair's government still far from agreement, the 50,000 firefighters say they will walk out for another eight days starting Wednesday.

If there is still no deal by then, firefighters plan a third strike beginning Dec. 16.

Blair's government has said it cannot afford the 40 percent pay increase the union wants, and rejected a proposed settlement of 16 percent.

Witnesses: Tanks move into Gaza town, firing

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- About 30 Israeli tanks, armored vehicles and helicopters moved into a Gaza Strip town late Saturday, firing machine guns and knocking out electricity, witnesses and Palestinian security officials said.

There were no reports of injuries from the shooting in Beit Lahiya, about three miles north of Gaza City, Palestinian security officials said.

Israeli security sources confirmed an operation was under way but gave no details.

Witnesses said about 30 tanks and armored personnel carriers, supported by two Apache helicopters, moved into Beit Lahiya just as residents were emerging from evening prayers. They said the tanks were firing machine guns.

Chavez's support among Venezuelan poor is fraying

MARACAIBO, Venezuela -- The lights still go out when families can't pay their bills. Shots ring out on dusty roads. Rain keeps leaking through rusted metal roofs.

President Hugo Chavez's promised "peaceful revolution" to eradicate poverty has yet to produce many results among the shacks that are close to the oil wells that built Maracaibo's sleek high-rises.

Still, many poor -- who comprise some 80 percent of the 24 million population -- are ready to defend their embattled president against an opposition that promises another crippling strike starting Monday.

Chavez, who was elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2000, has called the strike a thinly veiled coup plot, recalling a similar action in April that precipitated a two-day putsch.

Hungary, Romania vie to produce 'palinka'

BUCHAREST, Romania -- Romania and Hungary are in a diplomatic stew -- over brandy.

With their approaching entry into the European Union, the two Eastern European neighbors are vying for the rights to sell the region's famed fruit brandy, called "palinka" in some countries.

Romania urged the EU on Friday to reject a request by Hungarian producers for the exclusive right to sell the drink in EU countries under the generic name "palinka."

Brand names must be registered with the EU. Once a product is registered under a certain name with the EU, no other country can produce the product under the same name without permission from the nation that first obtained the copyright.

-- From wire reports