WORLD BRIEFS

AFGHANISTAN: Kandahar offensive begins

U.S. and Afghan forces began advancing slowly Wednesday through the insurgent-filled district in southern Afghanistan that gave birth to the Taliban movement, the British general in charge of NATO troops here said. Gen. Nick Carter said the latest push in Zhari district is part of a crucial strategy aimed at reducing violence in the provincial capital, Kandahar. Also Wednesday, the spokesman for the provincial governor said two children were killed by a homemade bomb. Meanwhile, NATO said 25 Afghan civilians had been killed and 60 injured so far in September as a result of the Taliban insurgency.

OMAN: Checkup for freed hiker

Sarah Shourd was scheduled for a medical exam Wednesday in Muscat, her first full day of freedom in more than 13 months after her release by Iran. Her mother says Sarah's problems include a breast lump and precancerous cervical cells. Oman's role in Shourd's release has not been explained. Her attorney, Masoud Shafiei said in Tehran that a "foreign individual paid the bail in Muscat" and insisted it was "neither a government nor an embassy." Shourd's companions, her fiance Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, remain in Evin Prison in Tehran and could soon face trial.

MEXICO: Karl hits the Yucatán

Tropical Storm Karl made landfall on the Yucatán Peninsula on Wednesday, hitting a sparsely populated stretch of Caribbean coast, while two Category 4 hurricanes roared farther out in the Atlantic. Karl was expected to weaken into a tropical depression before heading back out over the Gulf of Mexico. On the other side of the Atlantic, Hurricane Julia intensified into a Category 4 storm and Hurricane Igor's winds weakened.

BRITAIN: Pope to beatify cardinal

Pope Benedict XVI takes his campaign to revive Christianity in an increasingly secular Europe to Britain on Thursday. Pilgrims will share some of the cost of his trip, paying 25 pounds for tickets and transport to the main event: the beatification Sunday of Cardinal John Henry Newman in Birmingham.