World
Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, a favorite of Western donors and a strong critic of Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe, died in a French hospital after a two-month stay there. He won praise abroad for tackling corruption and turning the copper-rich Southern African country into one of the continent's biggest success stories.
A suicide bomber in Algeria rammed an explosives-rigged car into an Algiers police academy Tuesday as recruits lined up for classes, killing at least 43 people. It was the deadliest attack in recent years in the North African country. No group claimed responsibility, but the country's Al Qaeda affiliate has said it was behind a series of bombings during the past two years.
Muslim leaders in Indian Kashmir called for three days of calm Tuesday after massive separatist protests in Srinagar virtually shut down the region. The recent unrest, which has left 34 people dead, represents the biggest challenge to Indian rule over its only Muslim-majority state since the start of a violent insurgency in 1989 that has killed an estimated 68,000 people.
Venezuela seized foreign-owned cement plants Tuesday, a show of strength as President Hugo Chávez moves forward with a plan to make South America's top oil exporter a socialist society. The government took control of installations belonging to Mexican giant Cemex after cement nationalization talks broke down. Venezuela has already nationalized oil and telecommunication companies.
Peru's government has declared a state of emergency in remote jungle regions where Indian groups are blocking highways and gas installations to protest a law that makes it easier to sell their lands. A 30-day decree suspends rights to public gatherings in three northern provinces
Thailand and Cambodia began talks in a border dispute Tuesday in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin. The meeting aims to settle competing claims to land surrounding an 11th-century temple that led to an armed standoff last month in which no shots were fired.
Brazilian police have found a stolen Picasso print, the last of four artworks recovered following a museum heist in June. Above, policemen guard "Minotaur, Drinker and Women," which was found alongside a highway near São Paulo. Three suspects have been arrested, but a search continues for three more people implicated in the robbery, the second high-profile art theft in São Paulo in less than a year.
Olympic host Beijing has enjoyed its cleanest air in 10 years this month and will adopt stricter new measures to ensure its notorious smog does not return, a government environmental official said Tuesday. Three days of rainfall have helped clear haze since the Games started Aug. 8 and artificial cloud-seeding may be used before Sunday's closing ceremony.
Afghan officials said Tuesday that at least 13 militants, including six suicide bombers, died in a failed attack on a US military base near the border with Pakistan. NATO, which offered a slightly different account, said seven attackers in total were killed and that NATO forces identified the attackers about 1,000 meters outside of the base perimeter.
Eighteen of 25 Chinese miners trapped in a coal mine after an explosion on Monday have died and what happened to the rest is unknown, a government office said. Fifty-six miners reportedly escaped without injury.