North Korea: American team seeks remains of U.S. MIAs

Forensic experts arrived in North Korea Saturday to search for the remains of American soldiers listed as missing in action from the Korean War.

The team will be searching two locations in this reclusive communist nation, said Lt. Col. Orlando Lopez of the Defense POW Missing Personnel Office. He did not elaborate.

More than 8,100 U.S. troops are unaccounted for from the 1950-53 Korean War. Since 1996, U.S. teams have recovered 159 sets of remains in North Korea, 13 of which have been identified.

The monthlong search starting Saturday is the second of three the United States plans this year in North Korea. The third search will begin in October.

Rome: Coast guard intercepts boat full of Iraqi Kurds

The coast guard on Saturday caught a boat carrying 202 Iraqi Kurds arriving in southern Italy the latest in a heavy week of illegal landings.

Several coast guard vessels accompanied the 60-foot white wooden boat into the Santa Maria di Leuca port on the heel of boot-shaped Italy.

One woman and her newborn child were both taken to a hospital for a routine check, a port official said.

The others were taken to a holding center and were expected to be sent home unless any qualified for political asylum, the official said.

Afghanistan: Report says forces found al-Qaida lab

Security forces discovered a suspected al-Qaida chemical laboratory in a Kabul neighborhood Saturday complete with explosives and suspicious documents, Radio Kabul reported.

The report said the laboratory was found in a house in the city’s Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood, which was formerly occupied by the Saudi nongovernmental organization Wafa.

Radio Kabul, which is run by Afghanistan’s interim administration, said security officials found 16 types of chemicals and explosives in the house as well as documents which were not described.

No further details were available, and it was unclear who occupied the house at the time of the raid.

Egypt: Quake shakes Cairo

A moderate earthquake Saturday jolted the Egyptian capital and caused some damage, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

Egypt’s National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics said the quake had a magnitude of 4.7, followed by a 3.8 magnitude aftershock, while the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colo., said the quake measured 4.4. The epicenter was slightly more than 21 miles northeast of Cairo.

State-run TV interrupted its regular program with the news of the quake, which hit around 11 p.m.

Police said at least two houses were damaged in downtown Cairo.

A quake with a magnitude of 6 is capable of causing severe damage.