Britain
LONDON — Paul McCartney returned to Liverpool Sunday for a hometown concert to cap a 14-month world tour. "It's great to be home," McCartney told 30,000 fans who attended the open-air show on the city's docks, the final date of his Back in the World tour.
China
HONG KONG — An eighth front-line Hong Kong health-care worker died of SARS on Sunday, and in Canada nurses accused hospital officials of ignoring warnings of Toronto's latest outbreak, which also claimed another victim.
Denmark
COPENHAGEN — Vandals poured white paint on Copenhagen's famed statue of the Little Mermaid, police said. The paint was removed early Sunday.
Germany
BERLIN — Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder gained resounding support from his party Sunday for a reform package aimed at restarting the stalled German economy, an important first step for a plan he says will help lighten Europe's fiscal gloom.
India
HYDERABAD — Scorching heat has killed nearly 1,000 people across India in the past three weeks, relief officials said today. Most of those succumbing to high temperatures have been in southern Andhra Pradesh state, where at least 900 deaths have been reported. State-run All India Radio said sunstroke and dehydration had claimed another 100 lives in the northern and eastern parts of India.
Iraq
BAGHDAD — A U.S. Army base came under mortar fire on the outskirts of the capital early Sunday, and one soldier was slightly injured by shrapnel, the U.S. military said.
Italy
VATICAN CITY — Pope John Paul II and Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed the reconstruction of Iraq today during the first high-level U.S.-Vatican talks since the pontiff voiced opposition to the war. The two men met alone in the pope's study for 30 minutes, twice as long as scheduled. A statement issued by the Vatican did not mention that the pope condemned the Iraq war as lacking legal or moral justification.
Jordan
AMMAN — A Japanese photographer was sentenced to 1 1/2 years in prison after a bomb he took from Iraq as a souvenir exploded and killed an airport security guard in Jordan.
Kenya
NAIROBI — Kenya President Mwai Kibaki said Sunday the era of corruption and political handouts is over in the East African nation and that it's time to get back to work and reward honest labor.
Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR — The government announced Sunday it was releasing three Malaysian opposition activists imprisoned for two years without trial for allegedly plotting to topple Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
Morocco
RABAT — Moroccan King Mohammed VI will skip a planned trip to Egypt this week for a summit gathering with President Bush and Arab leaders, a government official said Sunday.
Myanmar
YANGON — Myanmar's military junta brought detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to the capital Sunday, sources said, after closing the offices of her party, confining key party leaders and closing universities across the country.
Saudi Arabia
RIYADH — FBI Director Robert Mueller on Sunday said the Riyadh suicide bombings bore "all the hallmarks" of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror group, and he praised the U.S.-Saudi cooperation in the investigation of the attacks.
South Korea
SEOUL — South Korean navy ships fired dozens of warning shots after North Korean fishing boats crossed a disputed maritime border Sunday, South Korea's Defense Ministry said, in the sixth day of confrontations at sea in a week.
Togo
LOME — In power for the past 36 years, President Gen. Gnassingbe Eyadema told the people of Togo his work was not yet done as he sought another term Sunday. Even before voting began, international monitors said the election in the West African nation was discredited.