World

The forced removal of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip by Israeli troops began on schedule Wednesday, despite efforts to evoke images of the Holocaust. Soldiers carried settlers kicking and screaming from their homes and synagogues and loaded them onto buses in an effort that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who ordered the pullout, said moved him to tears.

One of the worst waves of car bomb attacks in Baghdad in weeks killed at least 43 people and injured 89 others Wednesday as Iraqis were engrossed in the drama of drafting their proposed new constitution. Meanwhile, President Jalal Talabani's office signed death sentences for three convicted murderers. Their executions will be the first endorsed by the state since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Almost simultaneous terrorist explosions in Bangladesh killed one person and wounded more than 100 others Wednesday. As many as 200 bombs, which police said were homemade, targeted courthouses and other government buildings, causing pedestrians to flee in panic. There was no claim of responsibility, but leaflets from a banned Islamic group were found at several of the scenes, police said.

Leaked video footage appeared to contradict the claims of London police that they killed a Brazilian national in a subway station last month because he'd acted suspiciously and failed to obey their orders. The incident came shortly after the second of two waves of terrorist bombings aboard the city's transit systems, when tensions were high. Relatives of the victim said they wouldn't rest "until we have justice" for his death.

The US should stop complaining about Mexico's record in combating the flow of narcotics and do more to help, President Vicente Fox said. He told journalists Tuesday that his government is doing its part to fight powerful cocaine cartels. The US repeatedly has warned against travel to the border city of Nuevo Laredo, where drug-related violence has killed more than 100 people this year. But Fox suggested that the US is not doing all it can to stop the drug flow and has as many problems in that regard as does Mexico.