World briefs

AFGHANISTAN: Insurgents take over town

The governor of the remote northeastern province of Nuristan said government forces abandoned the main town in the Barg-e-Matal district after a major assault by Taliban militants, many of them coming in from nearby Pakistan. Gov. Jamaluddin Badar described the move as a "strategic withdrawal" to prevent civilian casualties after a nearly weeklong assault by hundreds of Taliban fighters. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a telephone message to reporters insurgents had taken complete control of the district, captured three police vehicles and forced security forces to flee checkpoints along the main roads.

MALAWI: Gay couple pardoned

Malawi's president Saturday pardoned a gay couple who had been sentenced to 14 years in prison and ordered their release but insisted that homosexuality was still illegal in his conservative southern African nation. Malawi had faced international condemnation for the conviction and harsh sentencing of Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza, who were arrested in December, a day after celebrating their engagement.

GUATEMALA: Deadly tropical storm

Tropical Storm Agatha, the first of the season, formed in the East Pacific Saturday, generating heavy rains in Guatemala and killing four people when a dislodged boulder crushed their house, authorities said. The rains also threatened to turn black ash dumped by a huge volcanic eruption into cement-like mud. Meanwhile in Ecuador, strong explosions that rocked the Tungurahua volcano and prompted evacuations of 2,500 people eased Saturday.

ISRAEL: Nation condemns nuke plan

Israel has condemned a plan approved by the 189 member nations of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to move toward banning nuclear arms from the Middle East, calling it "deeply flawed and hypocritical." Israel denounced the NPT resolution, saying it is singled out while "the terrorist regime in Iran, which is racing to develop nuclear weapons and which openly threatens to wipe Israel off the map, is not even mentioned."