Afghanistan

Two U.S. troops killed in bombing

A bomb exploded next to a U.S. military convoy in eastern Afghanistan, killing two American soldiers and wounding a third, the military said Saturday.

An Afghan interpreter was also wounded in the attack on Friday in Urgun district in Paktika province, the military said. The wounded were evacuated by helicopter to a U.S. base for treatment.

“Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of these two brave individuals who gave their lives so that Afghanistan might have a safe and secure future,” said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. James G. Champion, deputy operational commander of Combined Joint Task Force 76.

The names of the dead were withheld pending notification of their family.

The deaths brought to 147 the number of U.S. troops killed in and around Afghanistan since their mission began in 2001.

Syria

Nation denies claims it test-fired missiles

Syria’s information minister on Saturday denied Israeli claims his country is developing new weapons and test-fired Scud missiles last week, calling the accusations an “expression of Israel’s hostile intentions.”

In remarks carried by Syria’s official news agency, Mahdi Dakhlallah said the Israeli allegations also were part of a pressure campaign against Syria.

Israeli military officials said that Syria test-fired three Scud missiles late last week, reinforcing Israeli worries about Damascus’ ability to deliver a missile-borne chemical attack against Israeli civilian targets. They said one of the missiles broke up over Turkey.

The Turkish military said apparent missile debris from Syria landed on two agricultural villages in the southern province of Hatay, causing no injuries or damage.

A Turkish Foreign Ministry official said Syria had apologized and assured Turkey it was “just an accident” that occurred during routine military training.

North Ireland

Suspected IRA veteran arraigned in slaying

A reputed IRA veteran was arraigned Saturday on a charge he murdered a Catholic man outside a pub, a case that has overshadowed Northern Ireland’s peace process.

Terence “Jock” Davison, 49, entered no plea as prosecutors accused him of killing Robert McCartney, who was knifed in the throat and stomach and clubbed with iron bars on Jan. 30 in Belfast.

The Irish Republican Army initially denied involvement, then admitted its members committed the attack after facing public pressure from McCartney’s five sisters.

The sisters, who took their campaign for justice to the White House and the European Parliament, sat in the public gallery.

Also in the dock was one of Davison’s alleged accomplices, 36-year-old James McCormick. McCormick was charged with the attempted murder of McCartney’s friend Brendan Devine.

France

Tunnel fire kills 1

A tractor-trailer carrying tires caught fire Saturday inside an Alpine tunnel connecting France and Italy, killing one person and prompting authorities to shut down the roadway, officials said.

Some trucks reportedly were trapped inside as firefighters swarmed to the 8-mile-long Frejus Alpine tunnel, the national highway information center said.

Italian firefighters found one body inside the tunnel and were trying to locate as many as four other people seen trying to flee the scene on foot, said Giovanni Prestigiacomo, an official with the highway office in Susa, near the Italian entrance to the tunnel.

“Motorists who drove out of the tunnel told rescuers that they had seen three or four people fleeing on foot,” Prestigiacomo said.

Tokyo

Japan facing surge of AIDS cases

A rapid spread of AIDS over the past decade has reached a level that has confounded and alarmed the health establishment in Japan, a country that has long felt protected by a first-rate health system and widespread condom use.

Infections which had stayed at infinitesimal levels are surging at rates similar to developing countries, and some experts say the real number of Japanese with HIV or AIDS is two to four times the official toll.

“Japan is on the brink of going under,” says Dr. Tsuneo Akaeda, a gynecologist who raises AIDS awareness by offering free 15-minute blood tests in Tokyo’s nightclubs and streets. “They’re ignoring that they have diseases, they’re ignoring that they are sick.”

The official toll of 10,070 HIV/AIDS sufferers in a nation of 127 million people pales next to some countries. Even if the actual figure is closer to 40,000, that would mean roughly 1 in 3,000 are infected, compared to about 1 in 100 in Thailand or 1 in 1,500 in China, according to estimates by UNAIDS, the U.N. body waging the global war on AIDS.

Indonesia

17 arrested for bombings in Christian town

Indonesian police said Saturday they have arrested 17 suspects in last weekend’s bombings in a Christian town that killed 20 people.

None of the 17 – including the head of a local prison, three prisoners and an Islamic junior high school master – have been formally charged over the twin blasts at a bustling market in Tentena, Central Sulawesi.

Brig. Gen. Aryanto Sutadi, chief of Central Sulawesi police, said two more suspects were being sought. The 17 arrested included the two who carried out the bombings in Tentena, he said.

Central Sulawesi was the scene of a bloody war between Christians and Muslims in 2001-2002 that killed around 1,000 people from both communities.