WESTERN EUROPE

THATCHER MARKS 80TH BIRTHDAY WITH A BIG BASH

LONDON – Margaret Thatcher turned 80 yesterday with a rare return to the limelight – a posh party attended by the queen and the former prime minister’s two successors, all celebrating Britain’s “Iron Lady.”

Although she has grown frail following a series of small strokes, Mrs. Thatcher looked healthy as she arrived at the party about 15 minutes late – a delay that an aide said was due to her taking a congratulatory phone call from President Bush.

Wearing a navy blue coat and dress, a string of pearls and – as always – a matching handbag that was her trademark, she smiled and paused for photographs before slowly making her way into the plush Mandarin Oriental Hotel near London’s Hyde Park.

Heading the high-powered guest list were Queen Elizabeth II, and her husband, Prince Philip; Prime Minister Blair; and Sir John Major, Thatcher’s immediate successor at No. 10 Downing St. – Associated Press

SOUTHERN AFRICA

U.S. AMBASSADOR DETAINED IN ZIMBABWE

HARARE, Zimbabwe – The American ambassador to Zimbabwe was detained for a half hour after allegedly trespassing in a restricted area near President Mugabe’s official residence, the government said yesterday.

Zimbabwe officials said they sent a formal letter of protest to the American Embassy yesterday, complaining about the actions of Ambassador Christopher Dell.

State radio said that Mr. Dell was “trying to provoke an unwarranted diplomatic incident” by approaching the restricted security area in Harare’s National Botanical Gardens. It said the viewing area was guarded by armed troops.

Mr. Dell was held for 30 minutes Monday night and then released, according to the government statement. News of the incident didn’t emerge until the government statement yesterday. The ambassador and other American envoys couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. – Associated Press

SOUTH ASIA

REPORT: FIRST FEMALE SUICIDE BOMBER IN INDIAN KASHMIR CONFLICT

SRINAGAR, India – As other militants lay down their arms to help earthquake victims, a female suicide bomber blew herself up yesterday near an Indian army convoy, the first such attack by a woman in the Kashmir region.

A militant group claimed five soldiers were killed in the blast, but police denied this, saying there were no other casualties.

The explosion shattered the glass windows of several buildings in the area in Awantipora, a town nearly 20 miles south of Srinagar, the capital of India’s Jammu-Kashmir state, Nissar Ahmad, a police officer, told the Associated Press.

The attack was about 80 miles south of the areas of Kashmir affected by Saturday’s earthquake. – Associated Press

EASTERN EUROPE

UKRAINIAN, NATO TROOPS PARTICIPATE IN ANTI-TERROR DRILL

Ukraine staged a major NATO-led anti-terrorism and disaster relief exercise yesterday, a step that this ex-Soviet republic hopes might improve its chances of joining the Western military alliance.

The four-day drill, held near Ukraine’s border with NATO-member Poland, finished with a simulated terrorist attack on a chemical facility.

Elite Alfa troops of the Ukrainian State Security agency parachuted from a helicopter, while a separate assault team set off stun grenades to subdue the faux terrorist group that seized the dilapidated Soviet-era building, being used as the chemical facility for the drill. Multinational emergency crews rushed to the scene to fight a giant fire. Hosting the Joint Assistance 2005 maneuvers is Ukraine’s latest effort in its bid to join NATO. The alliance has said its door remains open to this nation of 47 million people, which shifted to a pro-Western course after last year’s Orange Revolution. – Associated Press

CENTRAL ASIA

RICE KEEPS GLOVES ON IN PUSH FOR DEMOCRACY

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan – Secretary of State Rice yesterday gently pressed the rulers of two former Soviet states to liberalize their democracies, recalling Washington’s balancing act with friendly dictators during the Cold War.

Ms. Rice’s praise for economic innovation in Kazakhstan and cooperation in the fight against terrorism in Tajikistan were part of a political calculation in Central Asia. The region is rich in oil and gas and is a strategic crossroad for Europe, Russia, and China. Separately, State Department spokesman Sean Mc-Cormack said Ms. Rice would detour to Moscow for meetings Saturday on the nuclear standoff with Iran, the upcoming constitutional vote in Iraq and other Middle East subjects.

Ms. Rice said America would not trade away democratic principles in the interest of stability. But she refrained from direct public criticism of leaders such as Kazakhstan’s Nursultan Nazarbayev, whose government disbanded a main opposition party and banned demonstrations around a scheduled December 4 presidential election.

“Central Asia is a region that has not had a democratic past,” Ms. Rice said after a meeting with Tajikistan’s authoritarian president, Imomali Rakhmonov. Like Mr. Nazarbayev, he is a wily veteran of the old Soviet hierarchy.

– Associated Press