China
SHANGHAI — A coal mine flooded in southern China, trapping 102 miners more than 1,000 feet underground as rescuers today used water pumps in an effort to reach them. There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries. The accident occurred Sunday afternoon in a tunnel 1,378 feet underground at the privately owned Daxing Colliery in Meizhou City in Guangdong province, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing a local official.
Egypt
CAIRO — One of two main challengers to President Hosni Mubarak in next month's elections said Sunday that if elected, he would abolish Egypt's emergency laws and release all political prisoners. But Noaman Gomaa, a law professor who leads the New Wafd Party, told reporters he would not let the Muslim Brotherhood stand as a party in elections.
India
NEW DELHI — The India-Pakistan peace process inched forward over the weekend as the rival nations formalized an agreement to ward off the risk of accidentally stumbling into war, a deal diplomats and analysts said should boost peace efforts between the nuclear-armed neighbors. Under the agreement, announced Saturday after two-day talks, the two will set up a hot line between foreign ministries next month and formally agreed to tell each other about upcoming missile tests, a practice that has been going on for some time.
Iran
TEHRAN — Iran brushed off warnings that it could face the U.N. Security Council over its nuclear program, saying Sunday it would not be moved by threats. Germany and France have urged Iran to reconsider its weekend rejection of European proposals for resolving the standoff over its nuclear program, warning that the International Atomic Energy Agency is likely to turn to the Security Council, which may impose sanctions.
Japan
TOKYO — The possibility that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi could call an early election increased over the weekend as opposition mounted to his plan to privatize portions of Japan's postal system. Koizumi repeated his intention to dissolve parliament if the upper house rejected his privatization bills in a vote expected today.
Mauritania
NOUAKCHOTT — Mauritania's self-declared head of state on Sunday named a new prime minister to replace the former premier who resigned along with his Cabinet after last week's coup. A judge freed 21 people who had been detained for plotting against the ousted regime, a U.S. ally. Junta leader Col. Ely Ould Mohamed Vall named Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar as prime minister, the government said in a statement. The 49-year-old Boubacar returned to Mauritania on Saturday from France, where he had been serving as ambassador since 2004.
Pakistan
LAHORE — The government's decision to crack down on Islamic schools and expel their foreign students could lead to nationwide protests, a senior leader from an alliance of opposition religious parties warned Sunday. Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf made the decision amid concern that Pakistan had not done enough to curb Islamic extremism inside the religious schools, known as madrassas. The move also came after investigators said two suspects in the deadly July 7 bombings in London may have been to Islamic schools in Pakistan. But Maulana Fazl-ur Rahman, an opposition leader in the lower house of Parliament, said the government made the decision under international pressure.
Saudi Arabia
RIYADH — The U.S. Embassy and consulates in Saudi Arabia will be closed today and Tuesday because of a threat against U.S. government buildings, the embassy said Sunday. In a statement, the embassy said mission personnel will limit their nonofficial travel during the next two days and urged Americans to keep "a high level of vigilance." The statement did not elaborate on the nature of the threat.
Venezuela
CARACAS — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday accused the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration of using its agents for espionage, and said Venezuela was suspending cooperation with the U.S. agency. Chavez, who regularly accuses the U.S. government of plotting against him, said "the DEA isn't absolutely necessary for the fight against drug trafficking."