Australia: Beer-buckler fined
DARWIN — An Australian man has been fined after buckling in a case of beer with a seat belt but leaving a 5-year-old child to sit on the car's floor, police said Tuesday.
Constable Wayne Burnett said he was "shocked and appalled" when he pulled over the unregistered car Friday in the central Australian town of Alice Springs.
Brazil: Black population soars
RIO DE JANEIRO — Blacks will outnumber whites in Brazil this year for the first time since slavery was abolished, but the income gap between the two groups may take another 50 years to bridge, according to a government study released Tuesday.
The government's Applied Institute of Economic Research said Brazil, which has the world's second-largest black population after Nigeria, is decades away from racial equality despite public policies aimed at decreasing the gap.
Chile: Aid for volcano victims
SANTIAGO — Chile's government will give victims of an erupting volcano cash, tax relief and financial help rebuilding their farms and businesses in a bid to get them to return to their homes, the interior minister said Tuesday.
The Chaiten volcano began erupting on May 2, forcing the evacuation of 4,500 residents of the town of Chaiten and hundreds of others from nearby villages and farms.
"Life in Chaiten will never be the same, and those affected must remain assured that their assets will be restored to them," said Interior Minister Edmundo Perez.
Colombia: 14 extradited to U.S.
BOGOTA — Colombia extradited 14 paramilitary warlords to the United States on Tuesday to stand trial on drug trafficking charges in a surprise move applauded by the Bush administration as evidence that Colombia deserves a trade deal.
But many Colombians worried that a narrow U.S. focus on drug crimes would enable the warlords and their politician allies to escape responsibility for human rights violations including the deaths of at least 10,000 people.
India: Blasts kill at least 60
NEW DELHI — A series of bombs exploded across the ancient city of Jaipur on Tuesday, killing at least 60 people and transforming busy markets, a jewelry bazaar and a Hindu temple into scenes of carnage.
All seven blasts were within the old walls of the western city known for its pink-hued palaces, and suspicion quickly fell on Islamic militant groups blamed for a string of attacks in India in recent years. Police said an eighth bomb was found and defused by police.
"Obviously, it's a terrorist" attack, said A.S. Gill, the police chief of Rajasthan, the state where Jaipur is located.
Kuwait: Sheik dies at 78
KUWAIT CITY — Sheik Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah, who ruled this small oil-rich ally of Washington for just nine days before being removed for ill health, died Tuesday. He was 78.
As crown prince, Sheik Saad automatically became Kuwait's ruler when his cousin, Sheik Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah, died Jan. 15, 2006, after 27 years in power. But it quickly became clear Saad's poor health would not allow him to carry out his new responsibilities, and he was removed from power in a historic vote on Jan. 23, 2006.
Sudan: More than 200 killed
KHARTOUM — More that 200 people were killed in fighting around Sudan's capital over the weekend, the defense minister announced Tuesday in the first official comment on casualties during the assault by Darfur rebels.
Gen. Abdul Rahim Mohammed Hussein told parliament that the attackers sent by the rebel Justice and Equality Movement suffered a crushing defeat, with at least two-thirds of their 180 vehicles destroyed, according to the official SUNA news agency.
Zimbabwe: Envoys threatened
HARARE — Police confronted diplomats seeking to investigate allegations of torture Tuesday, halting their convoy at a roadblock on the edge of the capital. One officer threatened to hit the U.S. ambassador with his car.
The U.S. ambassador, James McGee, was not hurt. Police eventually let the convoy through, and a patrol car escorted them back to the U.S. Embassy before disappearing.
A U.N. official, meanwhile, warned that postelection violence in Zimbabwe is nearing crisis levels, and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change said 32 supporters have been killed — including eight in the last 72 hours.