World in brief

Palestinian chief slams airstrike

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia condemned an Israeli airstrike that killed 14 Hamas militants in unusually harsh terms Tuesday, warning the attack will invite a tough response from the militant group and saying retaliation will be "justified."

Palestinian officials said Qureia's comments reflected his people's outrage as well as his impatience with the political paralysis within the Palestinian Authority. They said Qureia told Cabinet ministers he was so frustrated he wants to resign.

The Israeli attack, which struck a Hamas training camp in Gaza City shortly after midnight, came a week after Hamas suicide bombers blew up two Israeli buses in the Israeli city of Beersheba, killing 16 people.

Thousands of Palestinian mourners in Gaza clamored for revenge, and Hamas vowed to avenge the attack.

"No crime goes unpunished," Qureia said. "For sure there will be retaliation, and the retaliation will be justified if it happens."

Early Wednesday, about 25 Israeli tanks moved into northern Gaza, an area where militants fire rockets at Israeli towns just outside Gaza. No clashes were reported.

LONDON - Prime Minister Tony Blair said Tuesday he would reshuffle his senior ministerial team later this week and tried to play down new speculation about a power struggle at the heart of his government.

Rumors of a feud between Blair and his treasury chief Gordon Brown have persisted for years, and political commentators closely watch changes to the Cabinet lineup for signs that the balance of influence is shifting.

On Monday, Work and Pensions Secretary Andrew Smith, a key Brown ally, resigned. He said he wanted to devote more time to his family and his constituency.

Talk is now rife in political circles that Blair plans to promote his close friend and fellow modernizer Alan Milburn to party chairman. Blair declined to say whether Milburn would win promotion, and dismissed a suggestion that morale in his government - which has been battered by the Iraq war - was low.

CHINA FLOOD: - Floods and landslides triggered by torrential summer rains have killed at least 143 people and left dozens missing in southwestern China, officials and state television said Tuesday.

JAPAN TYPHOON: A powerful typhoon pounded western Japan on Tuesday, knocking out power to more than a million households, forcing thousands to evacuate and killing at least three people. Twenty-five crew members were missing from two cargo ships. Across the country 580 people were injured, public broadcaster NHK reported. Packing winds of up to 89 miles per hour, Typhoon Songda was expected to travel up the country's western coast and hit northern Japan by early today.

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