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Civilian death claims disputed by U.S. Nato

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published July 8, 2007

AFGHANISTAN

Afghan elders on Saturday claimed that 108 civilians were killed in a bombing campaign in western Afghanistan, while villagers in the northeast said 25 Afghans died in airstrikes, including some killed while burying dead relatives. U.S. and NATO leaders said they had no information to substantiate the claims, and a U.S. official said Taliban fighters are forcing villagers to say civilians died in fighting. Even the government officials who reported the deaths Saturday could not confirm the claims, which came from regions inaccessible to journalists and other independent researchers.

CHINA

Agency reportedly shuts drugmakers

China's food and drug watchdog announced it had shut down five drugmakers over the last year, including one that made a substance implicated in 11 deaths, state media reported Saturday. The State Food and Drug Administration also stripped 128 drugmakers of their certificates of favorable performance, the China Daily newspaper reported on its Web site. The report comes as China faces mounting international criticism over the quality and safety of its products.

NIGERIA

Police say girl, 3, to be freed soon

A British toddler kidnapped in Nigeria's volatile oil region may be freed imminently, police said Saturday. Margaret Hill, 3, was kidnapped on her way to school Thursday in the oil industry center of Port Harcourt. Port Harcourt Police Commissioner Felix Ogbaudu said police have received information on her whereabouts from sources he did not name. "We are also receiving information that she will be released between today and tomorrow, " he said.

ZIMBABWE

Government tries anew on price cuts

Zimbabwe's government announced a new law Saturday making it an offense to defy steep price cuts ordered in an effort to control runaway inflation and a growing economic crisis. At least 200 businesses have already been charged with price violations, and 40 market vendors were arrested for hoarding goods. On Friday, President Robert Mugabe threatened to seize business that defy the price cuts. Official inflation is running at 4, 500 percent, the highest in the world.

Elsewhere

Scotland: British Broadcasting Corp. reporter Alan Johnston was reunited with his family Saturday after four months as a hostage in the Gaza Strip and said one of the hardest parts about his ordeal was imagining his parents' anguish.

Nepal: Nepal's king celebrated his 60th birthday Saturday with a lavish ceremony at his palace that set off protests in Katmandu. Calling the king a criminal, about 10, 000 demonstrators demanded the abolition of the monarchy.

[Last modified July 8, 2007, 01:20:10]