WORLD BRIEFS

HONG KONG: 36 dead in harbor collision

A boat packed with holiday revelers collided with a ferry and sank in Victoria Harbor, killing 36 people and injuring dozens more, authorities said. The boat was carrying employees of a utility company and their families to the harbor to watch a fireworks display Monday night on the weekend celebrating China's National Day and mid-autumn festival. It was carrying about 120 people when it collided with the ferry near Lamma Island off the southwestern coast of Hong Kong Island. The government said 36 bodies had been recovered by Tuesday morning and the search was continuing. More than 100 people were rescued and sent to hospitals, and nine had serious or critical injuries, the statement said. It said the Fire Services Department could not rule out the possibility people were still in the vessel or missing.

SOMALIA: Troops taking over Kismayo

Hundreds of Somali troops entered the port city of Kismayo on Monday for the first time since Kenyan troops carried out an amphibious assault on the city last week, a military offensive that caused al-Shabab militants to flee. Kismayo residents said the troops met little or no military resistance. Kenyan forces have been on the northern edge of town since Friday, and more Kenyans were closing in from the west. Kismayo was the last stronghold of the al-Qaida-linked group al-Shabab, which taxed goods coming into the port to help fund their activities. Al-Shabab began its withdrawal after the Kenyan assault Friday.

GEORGIA: Both sides claiming victory

President Mikhail Saakashvili and the opposition both claimed victory Monday in a parliamentary election that was shaken by a prison abuse video that activists say showed the authoritarian face of the government. The governing party was in a heated race with the Georgian Dream coalition led by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire businessman who has posed the most serious challenge to the pro-Western president since Saakashvili came to power nine years ago.