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World in brief
Compiled from Times wires Death toll rises to 83 in Chechen bombingsVLADIKAVKAZ, Russia -- Chechen rebels staged attacks on pro-Moscow forces in the capital Grozny on Monday, killing four people, as the republic began three days of mourning for dozens killed in last week's bombing of Chechnya's government headquarters. The death toll from Friday's attack rose to 83 people, according to NTV television. More than 160 people also were injured when suicide bombers rammed two explosives-filled trucks into the Grozny government compound. Some victims were evacuated to Moscow and other cities to ease the burden on the Chechen capital's overwhelmed hospitals. However, Chechnya's prime minister, Mikhail Babich, said only 71 fatalities had been confirmed and that experts were still analyzing fragments to determine the exact number of dead. He said 172 people were wounded in the attack. President Vladimir Putin, in his first public statement about Friday's bombing, vowed not to let it interfere with efforts to find a political solution to the three-year conflict. "This was an attempt to disrupt the political process in Chechnya," Putin told his Cabinet in televised remarks. Helicopter flies 5 convicts to freedom in Puerto RicoA helicopter swooped down to a maximum security prison in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and flew away Monday with five convicts authorities described as "extremely dangerous." The charter helicopter later landed at Isla Grande airport in San Juan without the convicts and the pilot told investigators he had been kidnapped. Authorities were investigating why guards didn't shoot at the helicopter to prevent it from leaving the prison in Ponce. Minister: Venezuelan crisis will hurt world oil marketsCARACAS, Venezuela -- World oil markets will suffer for some time from the effects of the general strike aimed at toppling President Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's top oil official said Monday. The 4-week-old strike has shut down key sectors of the economy and created gasoline and food shortages throughout Venezuela, the world's No. 5 exporter. Oil production has plunged from 3-million barrels a day to 260,000 barrels a day. "For some time, we will have distortions on the world oil markets due to this situation," Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez acknowledged Monday. The strike escalated Monday as police used tear gas to separate opponents and supporters of Chavez outside the state oil monopoly's headquarters in Maracaibo, the hub of the country's oil-producing west. Iranian prison fire kills 27 inmatesTEHRAN, Iran -- A fire broke out in a prison in Gorgan early Monday, killing 27 prisoners and injuring 50 others, officials said. Officials said the victims were all inmates, ages 20 to 69, convicted by local courts on various charges, including smuggling drugs, theft and robbery. Also . . .NO CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTIONS: Israel's Supreme Court ruled on Monday that reserve soldiers did not have a right to refuse to serve in the occupied territories. It held that Israeli society was too polarized and embattled to permit selective assertions of conscience by its fighters.
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From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
