WORLD BRIEFS

PAKISTAN: No more drones, U.S. told

Pakistan has told the White House it no longer will permit U.S. drones to use its airspace to attack militants and collect intelligence on al-Qaida and other groups, officials involved in talks in Washington said. U.S. officials called the use of unmanned aerial vehicles a critical element in the U.S. anti-terrorism strategy. Ambassador Sherry Rehman, meeting Friday with Vice President Joe Biden's national security adviser, Antony Blinken, said Pakistan's political parties have agreed that the flights must end.

IRELAND: Apology for language test

Aer Lingus has apologized for forcing a Greek woman living in Cork to complete a test in her native tongue to prove her passport and nationality were genuine. The Irish airline said the tests, provided by the U.K. Border Agency to quiz anyone suspected of traveling on forged Greek passports, had been suspended. The policy became public after a telecommunications executive, Greek-born Chryssa Dislis, complained of degrading treatment when checking in for a Jan. 6 flight from Barcelona, Spain, to her home city of Cork.

INDIA: 6 charged in court bombing

The anti-terror agency filed charges Tuesday against six people in a bombing at the Delhi High Court last year that killed 15 people. Charged are Kashmiri medical student Wasim Akram Malik, described as a "leaderless jihadi," and five members of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militant group, active in India-administered Kashmir. The suitcase bomb went off near the court's reception area Sept. 7, wounding 80 people waiting to enter.

BANGLADESH: 31 perish after ferry sinks

A ferry carrying 200 people collided with a cargo boat and capsized Tuesday, killing 31 people and leaving dozens more missing. About 35 people were rescued after the ferry sank early in the morning on the Meghna River, just south of the capital, Dhaka. Divers had recovered 31 bodies from inside the sunken ferry.