Afghanistan
Muslim clerics ordered statue destruction
The decision to destroy ancient statues of Buddha was not made by the Taliban's reclusive leader but by 400 clerics who debated for months before declaring them idolatrous and "un-Islamic," the Taliban's information minister said Saturday.
Some clerics had hoped the statues would be spared, but the ruling could not be reversed, Information Minister Qadratullah Jamal said.
Even the Taliban's leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, who has taken the title Amir-ul Momineen, or King of the Muslims, could not deviate from the clerics' decision, Jamal said.
The order resulted in the destruction of two towering statues of Buddha in central Bamiyan province earlier this month as well as thousands of smaller statues in museums throughout the country, provoking international outrage.
Spain
Policeman killed in car bomb blast
A car bomb exploded outside a hotel in northeastern Spain on Saturday, killing a police officer and injuring another in the latest attack blamed on the Basque separatist group ETA.
The officers had rushed to the area to evacuate the Montecarlo hotel and surrounding buildings after a man claiming to speak on the ETA's behalf called a newspaper to warn of the bomb shortly before the blast, a spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry said.
The 32-year-old officer, Santos Santamaria Avedano, died after being admitted to a nearby hospital. The attack took place in the coastal town of Roses in the Catalonia region, some 60 miles north of Barcelona, and bore the hallmarks of ETA, said the spokeswoman, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
ETA, whose name stands for Basque Homeland and Freedom in the Basque language, has regularly used car bombs in its 33-year campaign for Basque independence.
South Korea
Worker layoffs prompt protests
Demonstrators protesting government-backed layoffs threw stones and firebombs at riot police and burned an American flag on Saturday.
About 2,000 students, union members and laid-off workers held a march to condemn the government's goal of selling the bankrupt Daewoo Motor Co. to General Motors Corp.
The clash between one group of demonstrators and riot police left at least two protesters and one policeman bleeding in the face.
Urged on by government-controlled creditor banks, Daewoo Motor laid off 1,751 workers in February in order to make it a better business prospect for GM. South Korea's third-largest carmaker has been surviving under court receivership a process under which all debts were frozen and new management was installed.
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