Pakistan

Women, children among 17 killed as combatants

Pakistani troops killed 17 people Sunday, including women and children whom the military called combatants in a region bordering Afghanistan.

A Pakistan soldier also was killed in the six-hour clash south of Miran Shah, administrative capital of the North Waziristan tribal region.

The suspected foreign fighters were among dozens of militants killed this week in the unruly border region. On Thursday, U.S. troops based in Afghanistan killed 24 suspected guerrillas as they crossed into North Waziristan following an attack on a military post operated by U.S.-led coalition forces. Four of the dead were from Central Asia and Sudan, while the other 20 were local Pashtun tribesmen from North and South Waziristan.

A local source said that two women and two children, including a 6-month-old baby, were among the dead and added that authorities had refused to hand over the bodies for burial.

Equatorial Guinea

Number of casualties in plane crash unknown

A Russian-made plane believed carrying more than 50 passengers and crew crashed in a forest in Equatorial Guinea, killing all aboard with searchers reporting that some bodies were scattered in trees, officials said Sunday.

The Antonov 32 plowed into dense woods 18 miles south of the capital, Malabo, shortly after leaving the city’s airport Saturday for the southern town of Bata, government spokesman Alfonso Nsue Mokuy said.

“There are no survivors. The plane crashed in the trees and is completely burned,” he said.

Wreckage was strewn for hundreds of yards, he said.

There was confusion about the number of crew and passengers aboard the plane operated by the Equatorial Guinea-registered company Equatair.

Mokuy said the plane was carrying 60 people. But Transport Minister Bametreo Elo Mbong earlier estimated 55 passengers and crew were aboard, but warned the true number might never be known.

Finland

Indonesia, Aceh rebels to sign peace agreement

The Indonesian government and Aceh rebels agreed Sunday to sign a formal peace agreement next month, vowing to end a 29-year conflict that has killed 15,000 people in the tsunami-ravaged province.

The peace deal – which will allow reconstruction aid for victims of the Dec. 26 natural disaster – is to be signed Aug. 15 in Helsinki, the two sides said after wrapping up the fifth and final round of talks in the Finnish capital.

In a joint statement, the two sides said the agreement covers the governing of Aceh province and rebel participation in the political process. It also contains an amnesty for the separatist rebels and the establishment of an Aceh monitoring mission consisting of unarmed European Union and Southeast Asian observers.

Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, who mediated the talks, said he assumed monitors would be present for the official signing in Aceh, an oil- and gas-rich province on the northern tip of Indonesia’s Sumatra Island.

He urged both parties to stop fighting by then.

“All hostilities have to end with the signing,” Ahtisaari said. “They’re unfortunately still going on.”

London

Camilla receives coat of arms for her birthday

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, will get a coat of arms on Sunday to coincide with her 58th birthday.

The blue, red, gold and green crest features a boar taken from the crest of her father, Maj. Bruce Shand and a lion copied from her husband Prince Charles’ arms, Charles’ office said.

Queen Elizabeth II took a “keen interest” in its creation, Clarence House added.

The duchess’s coat of arms also has a crown – the Coronet of the Heir Apparent – copied from Charles’ design.

The duchess and Prince Charles were married in Windsor on April 9.

Prince William received his coat of arms, featuring a lion and unicorn, for his 18th birthday in 2000.

Prince Harry helped design his own coat of arms for his 18th birthday in 2002, which includes an emblem from the crest of his mother, Princess Diana.

Venezuela

Chavez stokes political tensions with U.S.

As military officials barked orders, more than 300 civilians gathered in the morning hours to practice saluting and precision marching in preparation for possible war.

There were housewives and retirees, lawyers and street vendors, all volunteers of a newly expanded army reserve force that President Hugo Chavez is organizing to defend the country against the United States and other threats.

“The United States is the only superpower, but if the people are united we can defeat them,” said Arnaldo Cerniar, a 65-year-old retired credit officer who began training three months ago. “We need to defend the country against any aggression.”

Chavez’s recent decision to expand Venezuela’s reserve force to as many as 2 million people is only one indication of the growing tensions between this oil-rich nation and the United States. Although Venezuela continues selling large quantities of oil to the United States, Chavez has threatened to cut off supplies in the event of an American invasion. U.S. officials have dismissed the idea of a military attack on Venezuela.

Nonetheless, Chavez is seeking to diversify crude-oil sales away from the United States and has reoriented Venezuela’s foreign policy toward its Latin American neighbors and other nations, such as Iran.