World briefs

MEXICO

Americans found dead

Three U.S. citizens missing for more than two weeks have been found shot to death in Mexico near the border city of Matamoros, and authorities are questioning a local police unit about possible involvement, the attorney general in northern Tamaulipas state said yesterday. Erica Alvarado Rivera, 26, and brothers, Alex, 22, and Jose Angel, 21, had been visiting their father in Mexico and disappeared Oct. 13 along with Jose Guadalupe Castaneda Benitez, Erica Alvarado's 32-year-old boyfriend. Each was shot in the head and the bodies were burned, authorities said, most likely from lying in the hot sun.

SWEDEN

Vote on Palestinian state

Sweden yesterday became the biggest Western European country to recognize a Palestinian state, prompting a strong protest from Israel, which swiftly withdrew its ambassador from Stockholm. The move by Sweden's new left-leaning government reflects growing international impatience with Israel's nearly half-century control of the West Bank, east Jerusalem and its blockade of the Gaza Strip. It also comes during increased tensions between Arabs and Jews over Israel's plans to build 1,000 housing units in east Jerusalem.

GAZA

Malala donates prize

The United Nations agency that assists Palestinian refugees says Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has donated $50,000 to rebuild a UN school in Gaza damaged during this summer's Israel-Hamas war. UNRWA says Malala is donating all of the proceeds of the $50,000 World Children's Prize, which she collected in Stockholm on Wednesday. Dozens of Gaza's UN schools were damaged or destroyed during the 50-day war. The 17-year-old Malala won this year's Nobel Peace Prize for promoting girls' rights in her native Pakistan.