WORLD BRIEFS

UNITED NATIONS: U.S. and Russia clash over Syria

The United States and Russia clashed over Syria on Monday after Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the divided Security Council to speak with one voice and help the Mideast nation "pull back from the brink of a deeper catastrophe." Washington and Moscow both called for an end to the bloody yearlong conflict -- but on different terms. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton rejected any equivalence between the "premeditated murders" carried out by President Bashar Assad's "military machine" and the civilians under siege driven to self-defense. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Syrian authorities "bear a huge share of responsibility" but insisted opposition fighters and extremists including al-Qaida are also committing violent and terrorist acts. In Syria, activists said Monday that pro-government gunmen killed at least 16 people. State media in Damascus blamed "armed terrorists" in the killings.

CHINA: Floods collapse high-speed rail line

Part of a high-speed railway line in central China collapsed because of subsidence following heavy rains, state media reported, jolting railroad shares and reviving worries over safety. About 4 1/2 miles of track were being removed after it sank at points where the line runs across a floodplain, Xinhua News Agency reported Tuesday. Initially the agency reported that only 984 feet of track had been affected by the collapse Friday near Qianjiang city in Hubei province. Reports of the collapse along the line between the Yangtze River cities of Wuhan and Yichang mentioned no casualties. Hundreds of workers were rushing to repair the line.

IRAQ: Security push for Arab League summit

Iraq is deploying an unprecedented security force to protect Baghdad for an upcoming meeting of the Arab world's top leaders, a top official said Monday even as insurgents proved their continued threat by killing 14 in a handful of attacks. The annual Arab League summit is scheduled for the end of the month.