World

By the hundreds, tips were flooding into London's police department as it sought information on the terrorist bombings last week. It also appealed for videotaped footage, photos, and even cellphone images that might provide clues to the attackers' identities. In Birmingham, Britain's No. 2 city, security officials were allowing tens of thousands of people to return to downtown hotels, apartments, and other buildings after evacuating them Saturday night because of a "credible" terrorism threat.

At least 40 more people died in terrorist attacks Sunday in Iraq, pushing the number killed since Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari took office in late April above 1,500. Still, neighboring Jordan announced it would send an ambassador to Iraq "in the very, very near future." It was the first such commitment since terrorists executed Egypt's ambassador last week, and it was seen as doubly significant because a terrorist bomb blast outside the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad two years ago killed 19 people.

Declaring its commitment to banning nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula, the communist government in North Korea agreed to return to six-sided disarmament negotiations later this month after a year-long boycott. But Secretary of State Rice, traveling in Asia, cautioned that North Korea's pledge was "only a start" and that the other parties to the talks - Russia, China, Japan, and South Korea - shared the view that the North must "make the strategic choice to give up its nuclear weapons program."

Acting President Kurmanbek Bakiyev appeared certain to win a full term as leader of Kyrgyz-stan in Sunday's election, despite his administration's admission last month that it was not in full control of the ex- Soviet republic. Bakiyev was seeking a mandate to rule in his own right after the popular uprising that ousted longtime leader Askar Akayev in March.

Amid allegations of bribery, the chief of the ruling Workers' Party in Brazil quit Saturday, becoming the third official to do so in a month. His position was seen as untenable after police arrested an aide to his brother at an airport with $185,000 in his possession. The growing scandal has yet to reach President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva personally, but some of his aides are accused of using federal money to bribe legislators to support his policies. His chief of staff already has quit, and his communications minister also is under pressure to leave.