WORLD BRIEFS

CONGO: Rebels kill 3 peacekeepers

Dozens of rebels attacked a UN peacekeeping base under darkness in eastern Congo on Wednesday, killing three Indian soldiers and wounding seven other peacekeepers, an Indian army official said. Spokesman Virendra Singh said up to 50 rebels attacked a base in Kirumba in North Kivu province around 2 a.m., leading to an exchange of gunfire. Nearly 4,000 Indian soldiers are part of the UN Congo peacekeeping mission, which has about 20,000 people from various countries.

CHINA: North Korean jet crashes

A North Korean military aircraft crashed into a cornfield in northeastern China about 100 miles from the border, the Chinese government said Wednesday. Analysts believed the flight was a failed defection attempt. The pilot was killed in the crash Tuesday, according to New China News Agency. The crash happened in Fushun prefecture, Liaoning province. Photographs reportedly taken by villagers showed the wreckage with the insignia of the North Korean air force.

MEXICO: Mayor found slain

The kidnapped mayor of a northern town was found dead Wednesday. Mayor Edelmiro Cavazos' body was found near a waterfall outside his town, Santiago, a popular weekend getaway for residents of the industrial city of Monterrey, said Nuevo León state Attorney General Alejandro Garza y Garza. He suggested it was a drug gang hit.

INDONESIA: Ocean heat killing coral

Coral that survived the 2004 tsunami is dying at one of the fastest rates ever recorded because of a dramatic rise in water temperatures off northwestern Indonesia, conservationists said, warning Wednesday that the threat extends to other reefs across Asia. Wildlife Conservation Society biologists discovered massive bleaching, which occurs when algae living inside coral tissues are expelled, in Aceh province, on the tip of Sumatra island, in May when surface waters in the Andaman Sea peaked at 93 degrees Fahrenheit, a 7-degree rise over long-term averages.