Vatican City

Pope in good form during Sunday address

Pope John Paul II appeared in good form and spoke in a strong, relatively clear voice during his Sunday address at St. Peter’s Square, his second since being released from the hospital 10 days ago.

From his window at the Vatican, the 84-year-old pontiff read his entire address, stopping briefly to cough and skipping a Latin prayer but continuing to the end with no apparent problems.

It was a marked contrast from recent speeches in which the pontiff has struggled to catch his breath, often forcing aides to finish for him.

On Sunday, John Paul spoke of the Eucharist and Lent and said he deeply felt the papal duty of “caring for the flock” — another subtle rebuttal to suggestions he might step down because of frail health.

At the end, he raised his hand in blessing. “I wish you all a happy Sunday,” he said.

Bangladesh

Dozens dead, missing after ferry capsizes

A double-decker passenger ferry capsized and sank during an overnight tropical storm in Bangladesh, leaving at least 81 people dead and more than 100 missing, rescue officials said Sunday.

The MV Maharaj was carrying about 200 people when it capsized Saturday night on the Buriganga River just outside the capital, Dhaka.

Divers found 44 bodies inside the sunken ferry, while 37 others were plucked from the river, said Nurul Islam, a fire brigade official supervising the rescue work.

Rescuers suspended work Sunday night as darkness fell but said they would resume today.

Cyprus

Pro-reunification party wins vote in Turkish half

The pro-reunification governing party of Mehmet Ali Talat won parliamentary elections Sunday in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state, a victory seen as a boost for peace efforts on the divided island, but one that will not allow the party to govern alone.

Talat’s Republican Turkish Party got 44 percent of the vote, while the National Unity Party of Dervis Eroglu, which opposes a U.N. plan for reunifying the island, had around 32 percent, the official elections board said.

Those preliminary results mean a seven-seat gain for Talat’s party, which will now hold half the seats in the 50-seat parliament.

The victory was seen as a boost for efforts to bring peace to the Mediterranean island, which has been split into a Greek Cypriot-controlled south and Turkish-occupied north since Turkey invaded in 1974 after an abortive coup by supporters of union with Greece. The breakaway state in the north is only recognized by Turkey, which maintains 40,000 troops there.

Cyprus was accepted as an EU member in May 2004, but laws and regulations of the 25-nation bloc do not apply to the north.

Iraq

Marines crack down on militant stronghold

U.S. Marines stepped up operations against insurgents in Ramadi on Sunday, part of an effort to clamp down on rebel strongholds as Iraqis tried to determine the shape of their new government.

Marines set up checkpoints, began inspecting vehicles and imposed a curfew on Ramadi, capital of the Sunni-dominated Anbar province where Iraq’s insurgents have been most active.

A Marine spokesman downplayed comparisons to the assault on the neighboring town of Fallujah in November, when more than 50 Marines and thousands of insurgents were killed in an intense battle to expel guerrilla fighters.

The spokesman said the Ramadi operation was designed to ensure a peaceful transition from Iraqi’s interim government to the transitional government forming after national elections last month.

The Marines set up similar security measures in nearby villages along the Euphrates River.

China

U.S.-Japanese pact draws opposition

China issued a stiff protest Sunday over an updated U.S.-Japanese strategic agreement, saying its reference to Taiwan violates China’s national sovereignty and its criticism of China’s military buildup is “untenable.”

The complaint, issued by the Foreign Ministry, reflected deep government concern over Japan’s evolving decision to lean toward closer security cooperation with the United States in East Asia, including on the issue of Taiwan. Although Japan has not spelled out what military assistance it might provide, to Chinese ears the accord sounded like a promise to help the United States defend Taiwan in the event of war.

The revised U.S.-Japanese strategic understanding, issued Saturday after a meeting of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with their Japanese counterparts, for the first time included security in the area around Taiwan as a “common strategic objective.”