WORLD BRIEFS

ISRAEL: Rocket-proof school opens

For the first time in years, the children of Sderot, less than a mile from Gaza, can study in peace. Under constant threat of rocket fire from militants in the Gaza Strip, school days were often interrupted by mad dashes to shelters. On Monday, they started the school year in a new, fortified, rocket-proof building. The $27.5 million structure features concrete walls, reinforced windows and an architectural plan designed to absorb and deflect rocket fire. Notices on the walls of the "Shaar Hanegev" high school remind the 1,200 students of their new reality: In case of a warning siren, it reads, stay put. Said Zohar Nir-Levi, junior high school principal in the complex, "It used to be that even before you said hello in the morning you were telling people where to run." In the 12 years since rockets began raining down on Sderot, eight people have been killed, hundreds wounded and nearly everyone in the working-class town of 24,000 has been traumatized by the frequent wail of sirens and explosions.

EGYPT: Morsi names 21 advisers

President Mohammed Morsi named a team of 21 advisers and aides Monday that includes three women and two Christians, but a number of Islamist-leaning figures, backing off campaign promises to appoint a Christian and a woman as vice presidents. It is the latest move by Morsi to establish his authority and break with the era of ousted President Hosni Mubarak. Morsi's office has sought to depict him as independent of the Brotherhood and as wanting to bring a wider political spectrum behind him, including liberals -- but the Brotherhood still holds the preponderance of power.

COLOMBIA: Talks begin with rebels

President Juan Manuel Santos said Monday his government has held exploratory talks with FARC, the main leftist rebel group, in hopes of ending a half-century-old conflict. In a brief address to the nation, Manuel Santos said details of the conversations with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia would be known in a few days.