Iraq: Town is blockaded
BAGHDAD — U.S. and Iraqi forces blocked access to a town on the northeast outskirts of Baghdad where Shiite gunmen were dug in for a third day Monday behind earthen barriers. Police issued calls for residents to leave the town, and some said they were running out of food and fuel.
The blockade of Husseiniyah came as at least 16 people died when four car bombs rocked the center of the capital. Three of the blasts took place in one 30-minute span, as the relentless Baghdad summer sun pushed temperatures to 115 degrees.
Police, morgue and hospital officials reported a total of at least 59 people killed or found dead nationwide, and the American military announced the deaths of three soldiers and a Marine. At least 3,636 members of the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
Afghanistan: Last king dies
KABUL — Afghanistan's last king, a symbol of unity who oversaw four decades of peace before a 1973 palace coup ousted him and war shattered his country, died Monday. He was 92.
Mohammad Zahir Shah's demise ended the last vestige of Afghanistan's monarchy and triggered three days of national mourning for a man still feted as the "Father of the Nation" since his return from exile after the 2001 ouster of the Taliban.
Though he was not always effective during his 40-year reign, Zahir Shah is remembered warmly by his conflict-weary countrymen for steering the country without bloodshed.
Britain: Bull's destiny in doubt
LONDON — The decision to slaughter a bull revered as sacred by his Hindu caretakers is justified, a British court ruled Monday, overturning a decision by a lower court last week.
The ruling could spell the end for Shambo, a 6-year-old Friesian bull, whose life has been in jeopardy since he tested positive for bovine tuberculosis in April.
Local regulations stipulate that cattle suspected of carrying the disease be slaughtered, but Shambo's caretakers at the Skanda Vale monastery in southwestern Wales have mounted a campaign to save the beast. Hindus consider cattle sacred, and lawyers for the monastery argued that slaughtering the bull would interfere with their religious rights.
China: 270 crocodiles found
BEIJING — Chinese police tracking a suspicious vessel on a border river in southwest China got a shock when they found 270 crocodiles, a state news agency reported Monday.
Xinhua News Agency said the seizure was the largest this year in Guangxi region, where 25 illegally captured crocodiles were discovered in the first six months.
Border police noticed the boat trying to land on the Chinese side of the Beilun River, which marks the border with Vietnam.
Pakistan: 20 insurgents killed
MIRAN SHAH — Clashes between suspected militants and security forces Monday near Pakistan's northwestern border with Afghanistan left at least 20 insurgents and two soldiers dead, an army spokesman said.
Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said 20-25 rebel fighters were killed after they attacked two checkpoints manned by security forces near Mir Ali in North Waziristan, a stronghold of pro-Taliban militants along the border.
Arshad also confirmed two soldiers died in the shootouts and seven were wounded.