BAGHDAD - Sunni Arab militants killed 14 Shiite militiamen and a policeman Thursday in a clash southeast of Baghdad - another sign of rising tensions among Iraq's rival ethnic and religious communities. The U.S. military reported three American soldiers died in combat.
The Shiite-Sunni fighting occurred after police and militiamen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr raided a house in Nahrawan, 15 miles southeast of the capital, to free a militiaman taken hostage by Sunni militants, according to Amer al-Husseini, an aide to Sadr.
After freeing the hostage and capturing two militants, the Shiite militiamen were ambushed by the Sunnis on their way out of the religiously mixed town, Husseini said. Police Lt. Thair Mahmoud said 14 others - 12 militiamen and two policemen - were wounded.
The U.S. command said two Army soldiers were killed Wednesday when their convoy hit a roadside bomb in Baghdad. Another U.S. soldier died Wednesday in an ambush 37 miles north of Baghdad, the military said. Four other soldiers were wounded.
Brazilians stage barbecue to protest ban on beef
SAO PAULO, Brazil - Thousands of Brazilians took to the streets Thursday to try to show the rest of the world that Brazilian beef is safe - by roasting and eating 22,000 pounds of it.
More than 40 countries have banned Brazilian beef following the country's latest outbreak of the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease earlier this month in the midwestern state of Mato Grosso do Sul. Brazil has the world's largest commercial cattle herd, estimated at 190-million.
Amsterdam fire kills 11 illegal immigrants
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - A fire raged Thursday through a prison complex near Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, killing 11 illegal aliens awaiting deportation and raising questions about whether the Dutch government sacrificed safety standards in a crackdown on immigration.
Dutch Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner said the prison recently passed a fire safety inspection, but he ordered the Safety Investigation Council to open an independent investigation.
Charles, newly chic Camilla to visit U.S.
LONDON - Six months after their wedding, Prince Charles and Camilla arrive in Washington next week for a carefully choreographed visit designed to show a more mature and happier heir to the throne.
No longer described as frumpy in the British media, Camilla is now seen as a fashion trendsetter, albeit more for the Burberry and tweed crowd. "I don't think people associated Camilla with the word "chic' before her wedding," but now they do, said Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty, a magazine about royal life.
