Israel launches strike on Gaza, killing six

Israel launches strike on Gaza, killing six

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israel launched an airstrike on Gaza early today after its troops clashed with Hamas militants who fired mortars into Israel, leaving six Palestinians dead. It was the first battle since a June truce mostly quieted violence in the volatile territory.

The Israeli army said the clashes erupted late Tuesday after its forces uncovered a tunnel in central Gaza that militants planned to use to abduct Israeli soldiers. It said a special army unit headed to the area to destroy the tunnel. One Palestinian was killed in fierce gun battles that ensued.

Hamas then fired mortars across the Gaza border into southern Israel, and Israel answered with the airstrike in the early hours of today, killing five suspected Palestinian militants, Israeli and Palestinian officials said. The army said the airstrike aimed at the mortar launchers and hit them.

15 people killed in Baghdad explosions

BAGHDAD — Bombs exploded at a bus station and a small market in Baghdad, killing 15 people Tuesday in an increase in bloodshed in the Iraqi capital after a week of relative calm, police and hospital officials said.

U.S. officials say attacks in Baghdad average about four a day — down nearly 90 percent from levels of late 2006, when Shiite-Sunni fighting was at its high point and just before the U.S. troop surge that helped bring down violence in the capital.

Tuesday’s blasts came a day after a series of bombings killed 10 people and wounded 40 more, underscoring the threat still posed by extremists.

Other attacks also took place in Mosul, where violence has spiked in recent months.

Fears of wider conflict in Congo on the rise

GOMA, Congo — Congo’s warring rivals traded accusations Tuesday that Angola, Zimbabwe and Rwanda are mobilizing forces to fight in Congo, as the prime minister flew into this besieged city to assess weeks of fighting that has displaced a quarter million people.

The accusations of foreign involvement, reminiscent of a disastrous 1998-2002 war that drew in eight African nations, stoked fears of a wider conflict in this mineral-rich nation.

The fighting has forced tens of thousands of refugees to struggle through the countryside with what belongings they can carry. Tropical rainstorms, which drench eastern Congo every day, add to their misery.

On Tuesday, downpours sent refugees lucky enough to have shelter rushing to tents and huts made of woven banana leaves, while others huddled under plastic sheeting as they trudged through the thick red mud.

Taiwan and China make economic history with pact

TAIPEI, Taiwan — China and Taiwan made economic history Tuesday with a bold agreement that allows planes and ships to travel directly across the Taiwan Strait — the place where many have feared they would fight their next battle.

Still, the Asian rivals appear far from resolving the root causes of nearly six decades of hostilities and distrust. The pact was possible because negotiators set aside thorny political disputes and focused only on trade and economics.

The new deal allows passenger flights directly across the 100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait that separates Taiwan from mainland China. In the past, planes had to fly into Hong Kong airspace while traveling between the two sides. Cargo ships, which used to have to stop at the Japanese island of Okinawa northeast of Taiwan, will be allowed to sail directly to the other side and cut hundreds of miles out of each trip.

Mistrial declared in border agent’s case

PHOENIX — A mistrial was declared after a jury deadlocked Tuesday in the case of a Border Patrol agent accused of gunning down an illegal immigrant without provocation.

Jurors couldn’t reach a verdict against U.S Border Patrol Agent Nicholas Corbett on three possible charges: second-degree murder, manslaughter or negligent homicide. His first trial in March also ended with the jury deadlocked.

The shooting in January 2007 caused an international uproar, with Mexican President Felipe Calderon condemning it and calling for a complete investigation.

Francisco Javier Dominguez Rivera, 22, of Puebla, Mexico, was crossing the southern Arizona desert with two of his brothers and one’s girlfriend when Corbett drove up in his Border Patrol truck and started to arrest them.

Associated Press