World Briefs

PAKISTAN/Blast kills four, injures dozens

A suicide car bomber attacked a police station Saturday in northwestern Pakistan, killing four people and wounding about two dozen, underscoring the continuing security threat as the country's army battles militants. Also, a paramilitary commander said his forces had killed 25 militants in another area of the volatile frontier region. The blast on the police station in Karak in North West Frontier Province also toppled a mosque next door, said Ajmal Khan, a government official. Two police and two civilians were killed, and both police and civilians were among the wounded. No one claimed responsibility, but militants have targeted police, security forces and government offices in various parts of Pakistan in recent years to avenge military operations in the country's tribal regions, which are close to Afghanistan.

EGPYT/Ex-nuclear watchdog urges change

The former head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency who has emerged as an opposition leader in Egypt appealed to the government Saturday to heed calls for change before frustration over a stale political system ruled by one man for nearly 30 years spirals out of control. Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel laureate who has seen a wave of support from youths and reformists who see him as a potential challenger to President Hosni Mubarak, told The Associated Press that getting the general public on board with a peaceful movement is his biggest challenge. The 67-year-old career diplomat - who gained international respect while leading the International Atomic Energy Agency - remained mum about any presidential aspirations, saying a mass reform movement must first take hold.

ITALY/Trial against Berlusconi to continue

A panel of judges ruled yesterday that Premier Silvio Berlusconi's trial on corruption charges will continue, despite a ruling by Italy's highest appellate court that overturned the conviction of the lawyer the Italian leader allegedly bribed. The judges rebuffed a bid by Berlusconi's defense lawyers to suspend the premier's trial until the high court makes public its reasons in concluding the statute of limitations had run out in the case of David Mills. The British lawyer was found guilty by Italian courts of accepting a bribe to lie in court to protect Berlusconi's business interests and was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison. Berlusconi's defense team had been working feverishly for a way for the premier to avoid or put off this trial and a separate criminal trial linked to the billionaire's Mediaset media empire.