Philippines

Extremist members join mass jailbreak

More than 50 inmates, including many suspected members of a Muslim extremist group, used a smuggled pistol to escape Saturday from a southern Philippine prison. Police said they killed at least nine inmates.

Provincial spokesman Christopher Puno said 53 of 137 inmates at the Basilan Provincial Jail, including members of the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group, escaped.

Eight inmates were recaptured, said Senior Inspector William Gadayan, police chief of Isabela city, the capital of Basilan. He said three guards were injured in the breakout, one seriously.

The escape came two days after soldiers outside Isabela killed six alleged Abu Sayyaf members, including Hamsiraji Sali, one of five guerrilla leaders wanted by U.S. officials in the deaths of two American hostages.

Mexico

Explosion levels building near Texas border

A propane tank explosion ripped through a restaurant Saturday morning at the Mexican border with Texas, killing at least six people and injuring several more.

The tank exploded about 8:30 a.m. at the Red Snapper restaurant, about two blocks from a bridge over the Rio Bravo connecting Mexico with the United States.

The three-story cement building and a neighboring pharmacy and souvenir shop were demolished in the blast, which shattered windows up and down the street. Investigators said the explosion appeared to be accidental.

The restaurant was not open when the tank exploded on the second floor, but employees were in the building.

Gaza Strip

Palestinians donate to Hamas efforts

Thousands of Palestinians in impoverished Gaza waited Saturday in long lines outside mosques to contribute what little funds they had to Hamas’ fight against Israel, the Islamic militant group said.

Hamas, the largest opposition group, is negotiating with Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Authority on how to run Gaza after a planned Israeli withdrawal. The group, which opposes the existence of Israel, has killed more than 300 Israelis in attacks since 2000.

In all, Hamas officials said nearly $3 million had been raised in the campaign.

Late Saturday, two Israeli tanks moved about 100 yards into Palestinian territory near the Gaza Strip settlement of Netzarim, witnesses said.

They said the tanks fired machine guns and three shells. There were no reports of injuries.

Sri Lanka

Breakaway rebels prepare for attack

Renegade Tamil rebels braced for a showdown with the mainstream Tamil Tiger movement, as the Sri Lankan military went on high alert Saturday, intent on maintaining a truce that has given this island nation its best chance of peace in two decades.

The unconfirmed death toll from heavy fighting Friday between rebel factions was put at 33 by rebel and military officials.

Residents in the area of fighting along the Verugal River, off Sri Lanka’s northeastern coast and some 150 miles from the capital, Colombo, fled gunfire again early Saturday in a mopping-up operation by the mainstream Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam.

The military hopes to prevent the clash between rival Tamil Tiger factions from spilling over into civilian areas and sucking the army into the conflict.