WORLD DIGEST

Afghan deaths in U.S.-led coalition raid disputed; Pakistani flood victims riot over lack of aid

Saturday, June 30, 2007

AFGHANISTAN

U.S.-led bloc contests civilian death claims

KABUL — Four civilians were killed by American and Afghan forces in eastern Afghanistan, according to a human rights group, but the U.S.-led coalition disputed that account. "The soldiers claimed they were looking for three Taliban suspects, and they blew out the door of the house that belongs to Haji Muhammada Jan, who was about 80 years old, killing him and two of his sons and a grandson," said Lal Gul, chairman of the Afghanistan Human Rights Organization. But the U.S.-led coalition said its forces were fired upon from the compound and killed three militants in the ensuing firefight.

PAKISTAN

Villagers protest over speed of aid after flood

TURBAT — Hungry victims of flooding rioted in southwestern Pakistan, demonstrating against slow and meager aid reaching their marooned villages, where many feared that the receding waters would yield numerous bodies. Police fired tear gas and shots into the air but failed to disperse a crowd of several thousand villagers who broke into and ransacked the mayor's office in Turbat, a city that is ringed by floodwaters. The government said the official death toll in Baluchistan province was 14, with more than 24 missing, although local news media were reporting much higher numbers.

EGYPT

Girl's death outrages circumcision critics

CAIRO — The death of a 12-year-old Egyptian girl at the hands of a doctor performing female circumcision has sparked a public outcry and prompted health and religious authorities to ban the practice. The girl, Badour Shaker, died this month while undergoing the procedure in an illegal clinic in the southern town of Maghagh. Her mother, Zeniab Abdel Ghani, said she had paid about $9 to a female physician to perform the procedure. A forensic inquiry into the case found that the girl's death had been caused by an anesthesia overdose.

IVORY COAST

Prime minister's plane fired upon; three killed

ABIDJAN — A plane carrying Prime Minister Guillaume Soro came under heavy gunfire as it landed at an airport in the country's north. He wasn't harmed, officials said, but three other people were killed during the landing at Bouake airport, about 250 miles from the West African country's commercial capital, Abidjan.

CANADA

Protests impede travel on holiday weekend

OTTAWA — Canadian travelers faced road closings and rail shutdowns as they set out for the Canada Day holiday weekend amid nationwide protests by Canadian Native American groups to demonstrate their displeasure with the Conservative government over several recent disputes about land claims and funding. Though most protesters held non-disruptive demonstrations, members of a Mohawk tribe in Ontario shut down some passenger and freight train service and caused a section of Canada's busiest highway, Highway 401, to be closed for about 11 hours.

BELGIUM

2007 on track to be media's deadliest year

BRUSSELS — One hundred journalists and other news media workers died on the job around the world in the first six months of this year, putting 2007 on the path to becoming the deadliest year for the news business, the International News Safety Institute announced. The Brussels-based institute said 2006 was the deadliest year on record for journalists, with 168 murders or work-related deaths, with Iraq being the most dangerous country for news media workers.

SOUTH KOREA

Protesting the free trade deal

Compiled from wire reports.