World Briefs

Afghan suicide bombers kill 16
KHOST – A suicide bomber struck a security checkpoint in Afghanistan’s city of Khost yesterday, killing at least 16 people and wounding 30, police said, the latest attack to raise questions about stability in the volatile eastern region bordering Pakistan.

A spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force said the casualties included foreign troops, but declined to say how many and whether that meant deaths or injuries.Sardar Mohammad Zazai, police chief of Khost province, said the bomber, riding a motorbike, detonated his explosives at the checkpoint manned by local and foreign security forces.The attack took place near a mosque in a crowded part of the city, which lies near the border with Pakistan. Women and children were among the wounded, local officials said.Greeks to form governmentATHENS – The three parties that back Greece’s commitments to bailout creditors have agreed in principle to form a coalition government and are negotiating the final details, officials said yesterday..The agreement follows protracted negotiations between the conservative New Democracy party, the Socialist PASOK and the smaller Democratic Left party, after a national election on Sunday. New Democracy won the vote but needs other parties to form a majority coalition.Democratic Left spokesman Gerasimos Georgatos said his party is committed to joining a government headed by the conservatives.’We are offering a vote of confidence, not a vote of tolerance,’ he said. ‘We will be part of the government. That means that even if we disagree on a specific draft law, we will not withdraw our support or bring down the government.’Assange at Ecuador embassyQUITO/LONDON – WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange has taken refuge in Ecuador’s embassy in London and asked for asylum, officials said on Tuesday, in a last-ditch bid to avoid extradition to Sweden over sex crime accusations.Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said his country would weigh the request from the self-styled anti-secrecy campaigner, whose website is famous for leaking hundreds of thousands of United States diplomatic cables.The appeal for protection was the latest twist in Assange’s 18-month fight against being sent to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning about allegations of rape and sexual assault made by two female former WikiLeaks volunteers.