World
A subway train derailed in London during morning rush hour Thursday, adding to the jitters of a city still adjusting to new terrorism revelations. But the incident appeared unrelated to last weekend's failed bombing attempts. The terrorism threat level was lowered Wednesday from critical to severe, but in Glasgow, Scotland, police said tensions were running high between whites and people of South Asian descent and there had been at least 38 racial incidents, among them the torching of a business in a heavily Muslim neighborhood.
A loud explosion and more shooting punctuated the standoff Thursday between Pakistani troops and hundreds of Muslim militants still holed up inside a mosque in Islamabad, the capital. Radical cleric Abdul Aziz, who was caught trying to escape in a woman's burqa, said he'd urged his followers to surrender, but the advice appeared to be ignored. At least 17 people have died in the confrontation, and students who left said those remaining – many of them female – "are ready to die."
Militants struck for the second day in a row in Nigeria's oil delta, kidnapping a British child as she was being driven to preschool classes. The incident followed the seizure of five foreign employees of Royal Dutch/Shell as they worked on an offshore oil platform. More than 100 foreigners have been kidnapped in the region so far this year, but the targeting of women and children is rare.
Construction of a new deep-water port was approved by the military-backed government of Thailand to try to jump-start the economy of three poor, Muslim-dominated southern provinces. Reports said the facility, when complete, would handle rubber and other commodities that now must be shipped through neighboring Malaysia. Violence in the region continued Thursday, however, with more bombings and ambushes blamed on Muslim separatists. Workers also had to replace dozens of bolts that were removed from train tracks in Yala Province, causing the state railway system to suspend service.
Negotiations over the formation of a coalition government were under way in East Timor, where the ruling Fretilin Party claimed victory in last weekend's election for a new parliament. But its share of the vote slid by half from the last election, to 29 percent. Although ex-President Xanana Gusmao's National Congress ran a close second, Fretilin's leaders ruled out taking it on as a partner.
The focus of concern over severe flooding shifted from Pakistan to India as relentless monsoon rains worsened conditions in Calcutta (Kolkata) and other eastern cities. Authorities raised the number of deaths from the flooding to 14 in Calcutta and were predicting more "heavy to very heavy" rains over the next two days. Many of the city's 8 million residents were without electricity and clean drinking water, and businesses and schools were closed for a third straight day.
International Olympic Committee members credited Russian President Vladimir Putin's personal lobbying for their decision to choose the Black Sea resort of Sochi as the site of the 2014 Winter Games. His input, they said, swayed four voters in the second round of balloting after Pyeongchang, South Korea, led the field in the first round. Moscow staged the 1980 Summer Games, but Russia never has held a Winter Olympics.
Emergency crews worked through the night Wednesday to reach as many as 60 people trapped in a bus under tons of rock and earth from a landslide in central Mexico.The remains of 14 passengers have been recovered so far, authorities said. The accident was blamed on heavy rains that loosened the debris above the road in Puebla State.
