Briefly

Kuwait City

Purported al-Qaida tape issues warning to U.S.

A new audiotape purportedly from Osama bin Laden’s top deputy warns the United States that it will pay dearly if it harms detainees at Guantanamo Bay, and urges Muslims everywhere to avenge the prisoners.

Ayman Al-Zawahri, whereabouts unknown, said the threat was a response to Washington’s announcement that it would start putting the detainees on military trials.

“I swear by the almighty God … that crusader America will pay dearly for any harm done to any of the Muslim prisoners it is holding,” al-Zawahri said in recording broadcast today by the Arab satellite station Al-Arabiya.

“But we tell America one thing: what you have seen so far is nothing but the first skirmishes. The real battle hasn’t started yet.”

Pakistan

Accidental blast kills at least 45, injures 150

Explosives used for road-building detonated in a northern Pakistani village early today, killing 45 people and injuring 150, officials said.

The massive explosion happened at 2 a.m., and several homes in the village of Ghair caught fire, Khan said. Many of the 45 killed were women and children, and police were digging through debris searching for more bodies, he said.

Investigators believe a short circuit in the home caused a fire that ignited the explosives, an Interior Ministry official said.

Bahamas

Boats collide off Florida, killing four, wounding 16

A ferry boat and cargo ship collided in Bahamian waters early Saturday, killing four people and injuring 16 as they were traveling to a holiday celebration, officials said.

Rescuers ended their search for more victims from the accident, some nine miles southwest of Eleuthera island near the Exuma chain, in the Caribbean archipelago off Florida, police said.

The Sea Hauler was carrying 194 passengers and seven crew members when it left the capital, Nassau, in calm waters Friday night, Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia Pratt said.

It collided at about midnight CDT with The United Star, a cargo ship carrying about 11 crew members and passengers as well as cargo, she said.

Seattle

Microsoft warns IE users about ‘worm’ virus

Microsoft Corp. is warning its customers about a computer worm that exploits a flaw in its Internet Explorer browser.

A security bulletin on the company’s Web site says Microsoft started investigating a “mass mailer worm,” dubbed W32/Mimail(at)MM, Friday.

The worm spreads through e-mail if recipients open an attached zip file — used to condense information so it can move faster over the Internet — then open an HTML file inside the zip file, the bulletin said.

On Saturday, Microsoft spokesman Sean Sundwall downplayed the worm’s potential to cause major security problems.

“The damage is simply an annoying e-mail,” Sundwall said.

Microsoft’s Web site directs customers to a security patch designed to fix the problem.