World
US troops in Iraq retrieved remains and debris from the collision of two Black Hawk helicopters in the northern city of Mosul (above), as the Army investigated reports that enemy fire caused Saturday's crash. If confirmed, the helicopters would be the fourth and fifth downed in the past three weeks by hostile fire. At least 17 US soldiers were killed and five others were injured. Hours earlier, Iraq's Governing Council and US administrator, Paul Bremer, announced an agreement to establish a provisional government by June, reversing previous plans to first approve a new constitution and hold elections.
British security services are on high alert for massive protests when President Bush arrives Tuesday in London for a four-day state visit. Many Britons are deeply critical of Prime Minister Tony Blair for backing the war in Iraq, and a Blair supporter in Parliament said the timing of the visit is "ghastly." Officials at Buckingham Palace, home to Queen Elizabeth II, turned down a US request to blast- and bulletproof windows for Bush's stay, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
Closely timed explosions at two synagogues in Istanbul, Turkey, killed at least 22 people, nine of them Jewish worshippers, and injured more than 240 other people Saturday. Turkish investigators, assisted by Israeli security agents, reportedly determined both blasts were carried out by suicide bombers. Turkish and Israeli leaders said international terrorist groups, possibly Al Qaeda, were responsible.
The UN refugee agency suspended operations in the central Afghan province of Ghazni following the fatal shooting of a French worker, and stepped up security precautions elsewhere in the country. Bettina Goislard was the first UN staffer killed in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban regime two years ago. Ghazni's governor said two suspects are in custody and identified them as Taliban fighters.
An outbreak of the ebola virus has killed 11 people, Congo's health minister confirmed Saturday. The outbreak occurred in near Mbomo, a remote forest region near the border with Gabon, Alain Moka said. The disease, which doctors consider highly contagious, killed 120 people in the same area earlier this year.
Serbian voters cast ballots in their third presidential election in a year Sunday. Neither of the two previous polls mustered the minimum 50 percent turnout, and it wasn't clear whether the latest one would either. Opinion polls showed Dragoljub Micunovic, who is backed by the governing Democrats, in the lead among six candidates.
