Storm kills 22 in the Caribbean
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Tropical Storm Noel brought heavy rain to the western Caribbean Tuesday as it pushed through Cuba and edged closer to Florida. Floods and mudslides across the region have killed at least 22 people.
Forecasters projected the storm would emerge over water Wednesday near central Cuba and head northeast toward the Bahamas. Warnings were in effect for rough surf for much of South Florida, including the Miami area.
The storm cut a destructive path across the island of Hispaniola, which is shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, with emergency officials reporting between 22 and 36 people dead. In neighboring Haiti, at least six people died.
Islamabad, Pakistan
Suicide bomb near president’s office
A suicide bomber blew himself up Tuesday less than a half-mile from Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s office at army headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, killing seven other people.
The attack, the latest in a series of suicide assaults aimed at Pakistan’s political leaders and military installations, came 12 days after a bomber killed more than 140 people in the homecoming procession of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Karachi, the nation’s largest city.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but suspicion fell on Islamic militants, who have carried out dozens of such attacks in recent months. The blast fueled tensions in Pakistan, which has been rocked by months of political instability and a rising Islamic insurgency.
Gaza City, Gaza Strip
Israelis strike Gaza police station
Israeli aircraft hit a Hamas-run police station in the southern Gaza City of Khan Younis late Tuesday, killing at least four people, Palestinian security and hospital officials said.
The Israeli military confirmed it carried out an airstrike, saying the target was a Hamas position in southern Gaza. It said the attack followed the firing of mortar shells by Hamas at an Israeli village near Gaza.
Earlier, Israeli forces fired a missile that hit a house in northern Gaza, wounding three people. The military said it was aiming at a rocket squad, but the missile misfired and hit the house.
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Cambodian leader shuns gay daughter
Cambodian’s Prime Minister Hun Sen said Tuesday he was severing ties with his adopted daughter, who is a lesbian, but appealed to people not to discriminate against gays.
“My adopted daughter now has a wife. I’m quite disappointed,” Hun Sen said.
He made the rare revelation about his closely guarded family life during a public speech at a student graduation ceremony. Hun Sen said he plans to file a civil court case to disown his adopted daughter so that she cannot claim any inheritance from his family.
Tokyo
New Japanese fighter jet crashes
A Japanese fighter jet crashed an instant after takeoff and went up in flames Wednesday at an airport in central Japan, leaving the two pilots with minor injuries, an official for aircraft’s manufacturer said.
The F-2B fighter was on a test flight before delivery to Japan’s air force when it crashed, said Hideo Ikuno, a spokesman for the Daiya public-relations firm representing the plane’s maker, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
Also
Iran drug raid: Iranian law-enforcement officers killed seven drug traffickers in Iran’s northeast Khorasan Razavi Province on the Afghan border during a special operation, Iranian TV channels reported on Monday. Afghanistan, the world’s largest opium and heroin producer, has a long border with Iran, making the Islamic Republic a major drug-smuggling route.
China cancer: Breast cancer has risen sharply in Beijing during the last decade. The incidence of breast cancer has increased 23 percent in 10 years, with about 45 women out of every 100,000 diagnosed with the disease, the China Daily said. In Shanghai, it is 55 out of 100,000, up 31 percent in the past decade.
U.N. backs Cuba: The U.N. General Assembly voted for the 16th straight year Tuesday to urge the United States to end its trade embargo against Cuba. The 192-member world body approved a resolution calling for an end to the 46-year-old U.S. economic and commercial embargo.
Seattle Times news services