WORLD NEWS BRIEFS

PHILIPPINES / Cops: Robbers kill American

A retired U.S. Marine living near Manila was bludgeoned to death by robbers who broke into home on Christmas Eve, Filipino police said Monday. Police said robbers used a metal pipe to kill James Thomas Kakara, 61. His Filipino wife and her daughter, who spent Christmas Eve with her family nearby, found his body Sunday, police said. Provincial police director John Bulalacao said Kakara was a consultant for a U.S. security agency.

NETHERLANDS / Air passenger held in fight

Dutch airport police said they have detained a Finnish man who fought with crew members aboard a flight from a Spanish island to Finland. A spokesman said the crew overpowered the 57-year-old passenger and diverted the flight to Schiphol airport near Amsterdam, where he was taken into custody Sunday. A spokesman said the man argued with his wife, and the fight escalated when the crew intervened. According to media, 177 passengers were on board.

IRAQ / Rockets hit dissident camp

Two mortars hit an Iranian dissident camp in Iraq just days after Baghdad extended a deadline for the camp's closure, the Iraqi military said Sunday. The mortars landed on Camp Ashraf, home to the People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran, which the United States and Iran officially consider a terror group. Officials did not refer to any casualties. The UN said Sunday it signed a deal with Baghdad to move the camp's 3,000 residents to a temporary location.

MEXICO / Army: Drug lord's aide held

The Mexican army announced Sunday that it had captured the head of security for Sinaloa drug cartel head Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, one of the world's most wanted men. The suspect will be presented to the media Monday, the army said. Guzman, Mexico's top drug lord, has a $7 million bounty on his head. His cartel controls cocaine traffic on the Mexican border with California and and works near the Mexican border with Arizona.