MIDDLE EAST

AT LEAST 13 KILLED IN GAZA CITY BLASTS

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Israeli helicopters attacked a Hamas training field early today, killing at least 13 Palestinian Arabs and wounding 25 in the bloodiest strike in Gaza in months, officials from both sides said. Most of the casualties were members of the terrorist group.

The attack came a week after Hamas carried out a double suicide bombing in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba, killing 16 Israelis and breaking a six-month lull in major violence against the Jewish state. The suicide bombers were from the West Bank city of Hebron. The Israeli military said the air force targeted the field, near the border with Israel, that was being used by Hamas for bomb assembly and training. Angry Hamas terrorists gathered at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City – some with blood on their clothes from carrying victims – shouting “revenge, revenge.”

An Israeli statement listed events that it said took place at the field in recent days, including assembly of a large bomb and a suicide bomber’s vest, practice in hijacking vehicles, and training in preparing and firing mortars and rockets. Mushir al-Masri, a spokesperson for the terrorist organization, denied that the targeted field was used for training, calling it a summer camp for Palestinian Arab youth.

Separately, an Israeli spy satellite plunged into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after launch yesterday, dealing a severe blow to Israel’s attempts to closely monitor potential enemies, particularly Iran. The mishap occurred when boosters for the Ofek-6 satellite failed, the Defense Ministry said after the top-secret launch from the seaside Palmachim air force base in southern Israel. The satellite fell into the sea near the port city of Ashdod.

– Associated Press

FOUR MINISTERS QUIT TO PROTEST TERM EXTENSION

BEIRUT, Lebanon – Four Cabinet ministers resigned yesterday to protest the extension of President Lahud’s term, part of a bruising political battle that divided allies and drew the attention of the U.N. Security Council.

The ministers’ resignations were not expected to bring down the 30-member government of Prime Minister Hariri. However, they prompted Mr. Lahud to convene a meeting with Mr. Hariri and the Parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, at the presidential palace to discuss the fate of the Cabinet.

Three of the four resigning ministers – the economy minister, Marwan Hamadeh, the culture minister, Ghazi Aridi, and the minister of refugee affairs, Abdullah Farhat – were members of Druse leader Walid Jumblatt’s party. The fourth was the environment minister Faris Bweiz, an independent.

Last week, Parliament amended the Lebanese Constitution to permit Mr. Lahud, who is backed by Syria, to stay in office another three years, despite domestic and international objections. The constitutional amendment came despite a U.N. resolution urging Lebanon to elect a new president and Syria to loosen its control over Lebanon’s politics.

– Associated Press

WEST AFRICA

SUDAN DARFUR CRISIS TALKS DEADLOCKED

ABUJA, Nigeria – Peace talks on Sudan’s violence-torn Darfur region are deadlocked, one mediator said yesterday, as the African Union’s chief appealed to the Sudanese government and rebels to compromise. The two-week-old talks in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, have failed to move past the crucial question of disarming – with rebels saying they will lay down their guns only after the Janjaweed does so.

Negotiations are aimed at ending a 19-month-conflict in Sudan’s western region of Darfur that has killed tens of thousands and driven an estimated 1.2 million civilians from their homes. The Janjaweed are accused of carrying out atrocities in attacks on non-Arab African villages. Sudan’s government and the rebels laid out sharply conflicting positions in responses to a mediator’s draft proposal on security. Mediators asked President Obasanjo, the African Union’s current chief, to intervene personally. Mr. Obasanjo did so yesterday, urging both rebels and Sudan’s government to ease their demands at the scheduled resumption of talks later in the day, said Ahmed Tugod, spokesman for the rebels.

– Associated Press

SOUTH ASIA

CLAIM OF HEADWAY IN INDIA-PAKISTAN TALKS

NEW DELHI – The foreign ministers of India and Pakistan concluded talks yesterday declaring that the South Asian rivals had made significant progress in improving relations, despite their inability to agree on the future of divided Kashmir.

In a turning point in relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors, the foreign ministers sat side by side, publicly airing their deep divisions over the Himalayan province, yet pledging to move forward in ways that could ease tensions in the region. The mountainous Kashmir region has been the flashpoint of two wars between India and Pakistan since it was divided between them following the partition of the subcontinent by Britain at independence in 1947.

– Associated Press

EAST ASIA

DEATH TOLL FROM FLOODING RISES TO 76

BEIJING – Torrential floods in southwest China have claimed at least 76 lives, prompting beleaguered local officials to seek help yesterday from the military in rescuing hundreds trapped by mudslides and caved-in roads, the state press reported.

Days of heavy rain in Sichuan province and the municipality of Chongqing have swamped entire villages and ruined huge swathes of farmland, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The downpours, which began Thursday, were forecast to last through today, the agency said. Local governments were appealing for help from the nation’s air force in reaching people isolated by the rising waters, Xinhua said.

In the hard-hit city of Dazhou, floods caused roads to cave in and destroyed highways, cutting off the city’s downtown, it said. In Sichuan, 55 people were killed, it said. Neighboring Chongqing reported 21 dead, the Tianfu Morning Post said in its online edition.

– Associated Press

SOUTHEAST ASIA

MALAYSIA COURT CLEARS WAY FOR ANWAR APPEAL

Malaysia’s highest court cleared the way today for an appeal that could allow the newly freed former deputy leader Anwar Ibrahim back into politics.

Mr. Anwar, 57, was recovering from successful back surgery performed yesterday to repair damage that he maintains was caused by a police beating in custody in 1998. The three-judge panel agreed to reconsider the court’s earlier verdict that upheld Mr. Anwar’s conviction for corruption. Clearing him would free Mr. Anwar of the five-year ban against former felons running for office or leading political parties.

The decision came less than a week after a separate panel overturned a sodomy conviction and freed Mr. Anwar from six years in prison. Mr. Anwar called both convictions a conspiracy to stop him challenging then-Prime Minister Mohamad for power in 1998.

– Associated Press