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Pakistan tests cruise missile

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan successfully test-fired its first cruise missile on the 62nd birthday of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who hailed Thursday's launch as a move toward "military balance" in the region.

Archrival India declined to comment on the test of the Babur missile, which has a range of 310 miles and is capable of carrying nuclear and conventional warheads.

Pakistan fired the missile from an undisclosed location without notifying India - just days after the two governments formalized an agreement on telling each other in advance about missile tests.

The move appeared unlikely to upset a peace process between the nuclear rivals aimed at settling six decades of hostility.

Thursday's test underscored the fact that even after 11/2 years of confidence-building measures and peace talks - including a cease-fire at the frontier of disputed Kashmir - both nations are still upgrading military arsenals.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysia's leader declared an emergency in two regions Thursday, closing workplaces and calling on mosques to hold prayers for rain to rid the country of hazardous haze drifting from forest fires in neighboring Indonesia.

The haze has shrouded Kuala Lumpur and surrounding areas for more than a week in a pall of noxious fumes, smelling of ash and coal, in the country's worst environmental crisis since 1997.

The source of the haze is Indonesia's Sumatra Island, where farmers, plantation owners and miners have set hundreds of fires in the forests to clear land during dry weather. Winds blow most of the fumes across the narrow Strait of Malacca to Malaysia.

KHARTOUM, Sudan - A former southern rebel commander was sworn in to replace his late ally as first vice president Thursday and promised to pursue peace for all of Sudan, including bloodied Darfur and the restive east.

As a singer proclaimed "I am African, I am Sudanese," Salva Kiir Mayardit linked hands with other leaders while spectators danced forward, shaking walking sticks and embracing each other in celebration. President Omar al-Bashir danced a bit and shook hands with well-wishers.

But the day was generally somber, far more muted than the festive July 9 ceremony at the same spot when Kiir's late predecessor, John Garang de Mabior, became first vice president.