International Briefs

Attacks on Afghan govt buildings kill 19
 * KABUL – Taliban gunmen wearing suicide vests stormed the Justice Ministry and another government building in Afghanistan’s capital yesterday, killing 19 people ahead of a planned visit by President Barack Obama’s special envoy to the region. Eight attackers also died in the assaults.

Attacks on Afghan govt buildings kill 19
* KABUL – Taliban gunmen wearing suicide vests stormed the Justice Ministry and another government building in Afghanistan’s capital yesterday, killing 19 people ahead of a planned visit by President Barack Obama’s special envoy to the region. Eight attackers also died in the assaults.
Six die in Baghdad car bombing
* BAGHDAD – Iraqi police and hospital officials say six civilians have been killed and 25 others wounded in a car bomb explosion in western Baghdad. An Iraqi police official said the car bomb exploded yesterday inside a bus station in the western Baghdad neighbourhood of Bayaa.
Russia may allow Afghan-bound US arms
* MOSCOW – Russia is open to the possibility of letting the United States and Nato ship weaponry across its territory to Afghanistan if the broader relationship between Moscow and the West improves, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said yesterday.
North Korea steps up missile test preparations
* SEOUL – Chinese fishing vessels have moved out of waters near a disputed sea border between the two Koreas, a South Korean military official said yesterday, possibly signalling a North Korean short-range missile test is imminent.