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Rivals sign deal ending fighting in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Islamic militias and rival secular fighters signed a cease-fire Sunday - a deal intended to end eight days of fighting that has killed at least 142 people.

The battle for parts of the capital Mogadishu - described as the worst fighting in more than a decade of lawlessness - has left 280 people wounded, overwhelming hospitals. Doctors said most of the 142 dead were civilians killed in cross-fire. Thousands have fled their homes.

The chairman of the radical Islamic Court Union militias and a senior commander for the secular fighters agreed to stop the bloodletting after clan elders threatened to unleash their own combatants on whichever side was violating the cease-fire, leaders said.

Fighting in Somalia traditionally has largely been along clan lines and economically motivated, but the current battle appears to be over whether Somalia should be governed by Islamic law.

Vietnam reaches trade deal with United States

HANOI, Vietnam - Vietnam has reached an agreement with the United States that paves the way for the communist country to join the World Trade Organization, U.S. and Vietnamese officials said Sunday.

The two sides have "reached agreements in principle," Vietnamese Trade Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen told state newspaper Tuoi Tre. "The official signing will be conducted soon, probably in Ho Chi Minh City."

The agreement will substantially lower tariffs on U.S. industrial and agriculture products and lift nontariff trade barriers on American service providers, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said. It also calls for further political and economic reform in Vietnam, including increasing transparency in commerce, the office said.

The U.S. Congress needs to grant Vietnam Permanent Normal Trade Relations, the last step before the communist country can become a member of the world trade body.

Elsewhere ...

Brazil: A notorious criminal gang unleashed another wave of attacks against police Sunday, bringing to at least 52 the number of people killed since attacks began Friday. Meanwhile, another 33 related prison rebellions also broke out on Sunday, bringing the number of penitentiary revolts across Sao Paulo state to 51. Enio Lucciola, spokesman for the Sao Paulo State Public Safety Department, said the attacks and prison rebellions, planned by the First Capital Command "were the most vicious and deadliest attacks on public security forces that have ever taken place in Brazil." The attacks were in response to the transfer of eight of the group's imprisoned leaders.

China: The state-approved Catholic church welcomed the installation Sunday of another bishop who was not approved by the pope, exacerbating Beijing's already strained relations with the Vatican. Two other bishops were recently appointed without papal assent, drawing a threat of excommunication from the Vatican.

South Korea: More than 4,000 students and civic activists scuffled with police Sunday as they tried to approach the site of a new U.S. military base in Pyeongtaek to protest expansion plans, but no major clashes occurred.

[Last modified May 15, 2006, 08:15:51]