Afghans embrace chance to vote
Nine out of 10 eligible Afghans have signed up for landmark Oct. 9 elections, the UN said Sunday, a resounding endorsement of a democratic experiment supposed to help Afghanistan turn its back on years of debilitating war. An estimated 8.7 million of approximately 9.8 million eligible voters have collected ID election cards for the first-ever direct vote for president.
CASINO BLAST: A bomb targeting a casino owner exploded under a car on a busy restaurant street in the Czech capital Sunday, injuring at least 18 people, including two Americans, in what authorities described as a probable gangland attack. The injuries were reported to be minor.
FLOOD TOLL TOPS 1,500: Flood-weakened riverbanks in South Asia collapsed around villages Saturday, pushing the death toll from this season’s monsoons to 1,509 and stranding more than 30 million people in homes and schools, on highways and mud embankments, officials said. More rain is predicted this week for hard-hit Bangladesh, which has 250 rivers.
ARCHBISHOP RESIGNS: Archbishop of York Dr. David Hope, the Church of England’s second-most senior clergyman, said Sunday he had resigned his post to become a parish priest. Hope, who was archbishop for nine years, will become vicar of St. Margaret’s in the small town of Ilkley, in northern England, in February.
WARSAW UPRISING REMEMBERED: German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder bowed on the steps of a memorial to the Warsaw Uprising against the Nazis, acknowledging on Sunday the “immeasurable suffering” inflicted by Germans when they crushed the revolt 60 years ago. The two-month uprising ended with 200,000 Warsaw residents dead.
MILITANTS ARRESTED: Three more militants have been arrested since April in connection with an Al Qaeda-linked plot to attack the U.S. Embassy and Jordanian government offices with chemical and conventional weapons.
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Compiled from news services and edited by Patrick Olsen (polsen@tribune.com) and alBerto Trevino (atrevino@tribune.com)
