Syria: Villages flooded when dam collapses

A dam collapsed in northern Syria and flooded several villages Tuesday, killing at least two people, residents said. Some people fled into mountains in a search for higher ground.

After the Zeyzoun Dam burst, villagers said some areas were submerged under 13 feet of water. But the flood receded quickly and hours after the afternoon collapse, they said the level was down to about 4 inches.

The dam, which was built in 1996, burst near the town of Idlib, about 220 miles north of Damascus, the Syrian capital. It is on the Orontes River.

Bosnia: Police raid offices of Islamic charity

Authorities raided three offices of an Islamic charity, seizing computers and documents as part of a crackdown on organizations suspected of links to terrorist groups, officials said Tuesday.

Police on Monday raided two offices in Sarajevo of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, and a third office in Travnik, some 40 miles northwest of Sarajevo, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

After similar raids in March, the Treasury Department froze the charity’s assets. Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill said at the time that some money from the foundation’s offices in Bosnia and Somalia had been diverted to support terrorist activities.

El Salvador: Political asylum granted to Venezuelan officer

The Salvadoran government on Tuesday granted political asylum to Rear Adm. Carlos Molina Tamayo, one of several military officers who took part in a short-lived coup against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in April.

Molina Tamayo is under investigation for rebellion along with four other military officers and businessman Pedro Carmona, who became president for one day during the coup.

Carmona has been granted political asylum in Colombia.

The defendants argue they installed the interim government because they believed that Chavez had bowed to military pressure to resign.

Some Venezuelan lawmakers and Chavez supporters have urged prosecutors to formally charge Carmona and Molina Tamayo and, if necessary, seek their extradition.

India: Train hits bus, throws it into canal

A passenger train crashed into a bus on Tuesday at a rail crossing, hurtling it into a canal and killing 34 people who had been aboard, police said. At least 26 others were injured in the accident in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state.

The powerful blow of the Kasgunj Express train threw the bus 200 yards into a canal, police officer Satyendra Pal Singh said by telephone.

Police and rescue workers were trying to pull the wreckage out of the water, he said.

Initial reports indicated that a gatekeeper at the rail crossing did not close a gate to stop traffic from going through as the train approached.

Ireland: Airline, pilots reach deal

Aer Lingus resumed normal service on its European routes Tuesday after resolving a showdown with its pilots that grounded Ireland’s national airline for five days and left travelers stranded from Los Angeles to Rome.

The struggling state-owned carrier suffered an estimated $9.5 million in extra losses because of the pilots’ refusal to accept a tougher work schedule.

The pilots’ acceptance late Monday of a court-mediated compromise didn’t prevent the cancellation for a sixth day of Aer Lingus’ most profitable trans-Atlantic services. Daily flights connecting Ireland with New York, Boston and Chicago were scheduled to resume today, while the next flights to and from Los Angeles were set for Thursday.