Afghanistan
KABUL — Gunmen fired on a car carrying two Afghans from a German relief agency in a former Taliban stronghold, officials said Wednesday, killing them both in another setback to stuttering efforts to bring assistance to long-suffering Afghans. The U.S. military forecast more attacks on civilians — possibly including a major strike in the capital — as tension and violence continue to mount in the run-up to landmark October elections.
Czech Republic
PRAGUE — Czech President Vaclav Klaus appointed a new Cabinet on Wednesday, reshuffling the government a month after the former prime minister resigned over his party's crushing defeat in European parliamentary elections. New Prime Minister Stanislav Gross, appointed as premier late last month, leads the new Cabinet. He succeeds Vladimir Spidla, who stepped down as prime minister and leader of his Social Democratic Party after its poor showing in June's European vote.
Egypt
CAIRO — Outrage over a columnist's description of the Holocaust as a lie prompted a front-page clarification Wednesday in a weekly newspaper published by Egypt's ruling party. Al-Lewaa al-Islami, or "The Islamic Banner," said that two columns by Rifaat Sayed Ahmed expressed only "the opinion of the writer, which is subject to discussion, agreement or rejection." Editor Mohammed al-Zorkany said in an interview with The Associated Press that he had not expected the columns in the Islamic-oriented weekly to generate controversy. Ahmed himself was unapologetic.
England
LONDON — Police questioned 12 young men Wednesday after arresting them in a series of anti-terrorist raids that added to jitters about a possible attack in Britain and fueled suspicions among Muslims about being unfairly singled out. Police arrested 13 men, age 19 to 32, in raids late Tuesday in London, the nearby towns of Watford and Luton and Blackburn in northwest England.
France
PARIS — Legendary French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, who traveled the world for more than half a century capturing human drama with his camera, has died at age 95. Cartier-Bresson shot for Life, Vogue and Harper's Bazaar magazines, and his work inspired generations of photographers. Cartier-Bresson became a French national treasure, though he was famously averse to having his own picture taken or to giving interviews.
Gibraltar
Thousands in Gibraltar linked hands Wednesday to create a human chain around the tiny British colony at the tip of the Iberian peninsula, celebrating the 300th anniversary of the territory's capture by Britain. The human chain was an unmistakable political statement to the colony's neighbors in Spain, which lost the deep-sea harbor and strategic naval base on Aug. 4, 1704, and has yearned to recover it ever since.
Israel
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Israeli soldiers raided a Palestinian engagement party Wednesday in the West Bank city of Ramallah and arrested the prospective bridegroom, participants said. Rami Barghouti, 28, an activist in the Islamic militant group Hamas who has long been in hiding, was celebrating his engagement when Israeli forces surrounded the house. Participants said Barghouti tried to hide, but the soldiers opened fire and captured him. He was wounded, they said.
Myanmar
YANGON — A fashionable repast for kings in medieval times, peacock is off the menu now as two poachers here learned when they were recently jailed for eating two of the showy fowl. The men were sentenced to three years in prison each for killing and eating two peacocks stolen in February from a wildlife reserve, a weekly journal reported Wednesday.
Pakistan
ISLAMABAD — Two South African men — captured along with a senior al-Qaida terrorist — were plotting attacks on tourist sites in their home country, and vowed an unceasing battle against America and President Bush when authorities nabbed them after a 12-hour gunbattle, a senior police official said Wednesday. South African officials hotly rejected the claim that their country was a target.
Sudan
KHARTOUM — More than 100,000 people marched through Sudan's capital Wednesday in a state-orchestrated rally opposing a U.N. Security Council deadline for the government to disarm Arab militias blamed for killing thousands of people in western Darfur province.