World
Hundreds of thousands of Cubans answered Fidel Castro's call to file past the American mission in Havana early Tuesday in a "March against Terrorism," demanding that the US arrest a Cuban exile sought in a deadly airliner bombing three decades ago. Protesters were calling for the arrest of Castro's longtime foe, Luis Posada Carriles, a Cuban exile who recently traveled to the US, where he is seeking political asylum. Venezuela has requested the extradition of Posada in the 1976 airliner bombing that killed 73 people. Posada denies involvement in the bombing.
Prime Minister Tony Blair formally launched his third term in office Tuesday with a packed legislative program that could test his authority and further strain relations with his restive Labour Party. The program also includes plans for Britain's first compulsory national ID card since World War II.
Italian relief worker Clementina Cantoni was kidnapped from her car in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Tuesday by a group of four "thieves" who contacted authorities to claim the abduction of the CARE International employee. It was the first kidnapping of a foreigner in Afghanistan since three UN election workers were seized last October and held for nearly a month.
More than 300 Gaza pullout protesters were brought before Israeli courts Tuesday for detention hearings, the largest group of arrests since protests began several months ago. The demonstrators were arrested Monday after using burning tires and their bodies to block rush-hour traffic around the country. Their objective: to tie up police in a rehearsal for diversionary operations designed to scuttle the evacuation of Gaza and West Bank settlements this summer.
A Uzbekistan opposition leader said Tuesday her party had compiled a list of 745 people allegedly killed by government troops in the former Soviet republic, the highest estimate so far, and that many were shot in the back of the head. The government, which denied firing at civilians, has blamed Islamic extremists who stormed a prison in Andijon on Friday for the violence.
Mexican President Vicente Fox's office on Tuesday insisted his comments that Mexicans work at jobs blacks don't want in the US were misinterpreted, a day after he told leaders in the US black community that he regretted "any hurt feelings."
