Peru

Explosion kills at least 6 outside U.S. Embassy

A car bomb outside the U.S. Embassy in Lima killed at least six people and injured 30 others late Wednesday, officials said. The blast comes three days ahead of a visit by President Bush.

No Americans were hurt in the blast, according to a State Department official in Washington.

Bush is set to arrive Saturday in Lima for a meeting with Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo and leaders from Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador.

The blast outside the embassy occurred about 10:45 p.m.,in an upscale area of popular late-night restaurants, movie theaters and shops.

China

U.S. engineer sentenced to five years in prison

A Chinese court sentenced an American electrical engineer today to five years in prison for obtaining state secrets and giving bribes, the U.S. Embassy said.

The two years Fong Fuming has already spent in detention will be deducted from his prison term, an embassy spokesman said.

Fong, of West Orange, N.J., was acquitted by the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate Court of other bribery and state secrets charges, said the spokesman, who spoke on routine condition of anonymity.

A court official responsible for the case confirmed a verdict had been reached but refused to disclose details. The court’s spokesman’s office did not respond to requests for information.

New York

Artillery training accident kills Fort Drum soldier

Two artillery shells fell short during an Army firing exercise and exploded near a mess tent where soldiers were eating breakfast Wednesday.

One soldier was killed, and 14 were injured.

The soldiers, from the 10th Mountain Division’s 110th Military Intelligence Battalion, were about 200 yards from the edge of the 90-square-mile target area when the shells hit at 7:20 a.m., the Army said.

Some of the wounded had life-threatening injuries, while others were treated at the hospital and released, officials said.

The dead soldier was identified as Pfc. William Hamm, 34, of Ocala, Fla.

Los Angeles

Jury in dog attack trial reaches partial verdicts

The jury in the San Francisco dog mauling trial reached verdicts Wednesday on four of five counts facing a couple accused in the death of a neighbor, then adjourned until today to consider the last charge.

Superior Court Judge James Warren told the jury foreman to seal the completed verdicts in an envelope, which was to be kept under lock overnight. There was no indication which of the five counts remained undecided.

“When the jury comes back with all the verdicts, we will read all the verdicts,” the judge said.

Robert Noel, 60, and his wife, Marjorie Knoller, 46, are charged in the death of neighbor Diane Whipple, 33, who was fatally mauled on Jan. 26, 2001, outside her apartment by at least one of the couple’s dogs.