West Bank

Palestinian militants vow revenge for leader’s death

Islamic Jihad threatened revenge after Israeli troops killed one of the militant group’s leaders Thursday, another sign that a truce by Palestinian militants was unraveling.

Israeli soldiers killed Mohammed Sidr, leader of Islamic Jihad in the West Bank city of Hebron, after they surrounded the small warehouse where he was hiding. Sidr fired his assault rifle and lobbed grenades, the military said, and troops fired shots and an anti-tank missile after calling on him to surrender. His bloody body was pulled from the rubble after daybreak.

The truce, declared June 29, dramatically reduced violence that has plagued the region for nearly three years. It was part of efforts to push forward a U.S.-backed “road map” peace plan.

Washington, D.C.

Allies agree that N. Korea must end weapons program

After two days of talks, the United States, Japan and South Korea have agreed that North Korea must end its nuclear weapons program, the State Department said Thursday.

Further formal meetings were not likely before negotiations with North Korea Aug. 27-29 in Beijing, department spokesman Tom Casey said. Also joining the talks will be Russia and China.

North Korea is approaching the negotiations with a tough public line. On Wednesday, a foreign ministry spokesman demanded that the United States commit to a nonaggression treaty and normalize ties with the North.

Greece

Tourists flee after quake hits western Greek island

A powerful earthquake Thursday turned a peak summer holiday into a frightened exodus as tourists streamed from the Ionian Sea island of Lefkada, where more than 50 people were injured and some villages were cut off by landslides.

The only bridge linking the resort island with the western mainland was jammed with cars carrying Greek and foreign tourists panicked by the 6.4-magnitude quake, which struck deep in the seabed 175 miles northwest of Athens. At least two strong aftershocks followed with preliminary magnitudes of 5.3, said the Athens Geodynamic Institute.

Nearly every Greek vacation spot is packed for the high point of the country’s traditional summer break.