World
A truck bomb exploded outside a police station south of Baghdad, killing at least 50 people. Authorities said the number of dead was expected to rise because many of the 50 others who were wounded were in critical condition. The attack, one of the worst in Iraq since Saddam Hussein's regime fell last spring, came after a warning by US officials that Muslim militants with links to Al Qaeda were attempting to instigate a civil war between rival Shiite and Sunni Muslims.
Police were back in control of two Haitian cities and the spreading revolt against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's government was brought to a halt, at least temporarily, reports said. The cities were identified as Saint Marc, an important seaport, and Grand-Goave, although the reports could not be independently verified. In the No. 2 city, Cap-Haitien, Aristide supporters built flaming barricades to discourage dissidents, although gunfire was heard there Monday night.
Two employees of the Russian military died and six others were hurt in an explosion outside a headquarters in Chechnya's capital as violence in the region intensified again. Since last Thursday, 25 people have been killed and 45 others wounded in daily clashes with - or terrorist attacks by - separatists. Chechen agents also are blamed for the bombing of a Moscow subway last Friday that killed 39 people. Despite that, Foreign Minister Sergei Ivanon told a security conference Saturday that "all big terrorist formations are destroyed in Chechnya [and] we have now launched a political process."
A controversial candidate for president in Russia was found alive and well in neighboring Ukraine, aides said. Ivan Rybkin's wife, Albina, filed a missing-person report late last week after he failed to appear at a scheduled news conference, and an official "murder inquiry" was begun, only to be dropped hours later. His disappearance has not yet been explained. Rybkin is a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin, although he isn't expected to attract many votes in next month's election.
Only three of the 46 people aboard an Iranian passenger plane survived after it crashed on approach to landing in the United Arab Emirates and burst into flames. The plane was far newer than most others in Iran's commercial fleet, and the pilot reportedly had not radioed that it was experiencing difficulty. The passengers were believed headed for Kish, a tourist island/free-trade zone popular with foreigners in the Emirates workforce.