World in brief

Colombian rebels kill 40 in attack

BOGOTA, Colombia - Leftist rebels attacked a village controlled by right-wing paramilitaries in northern Colombia, killing 39 militia fighters and a villager, police said Wednesday.

The assault Tuesday in Pozo Azul in the state of Bolivar was one of a series of attacks on villages controlled by the paramilitaries, said Col. Jesus Gomez, police commander.

Rebels also attacked two other villages, Monterrey and Pueblo, but no deaths were reported.

Authorities said Tuesday's fighting was part of an ongoing war between the rebels and the outlawed paramilitaries to gain control of the region's drug trade. The illegal armed groups operating in Bolivar state finance themselves through drug trafficking.

More than 500 rebels of both the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and the National Liberation Army began the assault at dawn Tuesday, launching homemade mortars and burning vehicles, Gomez said.

The civilian, a woman, was killed by stray bullets.

The rebels left the bodies of the paramilitary victims in the main plaza of the nearby village of San Blas before retreating, Gomez said. The paramilitaries, outlawed by the government, were founded to battle the leftist rebel groups.

Pozo Azul residents said the rebels also suffered casualties but carried away the bodies.

ROME - Police ordered post offices in the Bologna region on Wednesday to start X-raying packages addressed to European institutions after a string of package bombs sent from the town to EU offices and officials across the continent.

Investigators suspect Italian anarchists are responsible for sending four package bombs, all postmarked from Bologna, to prominent European offices or officials, said Luigi Persico of the Bologna police.

None of the explosive packages have caused injuries.

"All the packages addressed to the offices or institutions of the European Union are to be examined by X-ray," so that any further explosive packages can be defused, said Persico.

VIETNAM: A former journalist who used the Internet to criticize the Vietnamese government was sentenced Wednesday to seven years in jail and three years house arrest for spying, a court official said. Nguyen Vu Binh, 35, was charged with gathering antigovernment information and documents for "reactionary organizations" in exile to help them oppose the government, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. In Washington, State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said the United States strongly condemns the sentence.

PHILIPPINES: A fire sparked by firecrackers swept through an old market in the Philippines, killing at least 14 people who were trapped inside their stalls, police said. The fire started when a market vendor lit a rocket, which hit and ignited a stack of firecrackers in his stall.

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