World News in Brief

Militants ambushed Pakistani security forces at checkpoints in two regions close to the Afghan border yesterday, sparking gunbattles that left 22 insurgents and two troops dead, officials said. Elsewhere in the northwest, a suicide bomber killed a police officer and three passers-by, part of a relentless wave of violence by Al-Qaida and Taliban insurgents also blamed for attacks on U.S. and NATO troops across the frontier in Afghanistan. (AP)

A roadside bomb killed two U.S. service members in southern Afghanistan, NATO said in a statement yesterday. No further details were given. The deaths bring the total number of Americans killed in Afghanistan so far this year to at least 22, according to an Associated Press tally. The south is the Taliban heartland and is expected to be a major focus of fighting as the U.S. and NATO allies send 37,000 additional troops to rout the insurgency. (AP) Advertisement


British actress Jean Simmons, who starred opposite Laurence Olivier in "Hamlet" during a career spanning 60 years, has died in California, Los Angeles Times reported yesterday. Simmons, who was 80 and had lung cancer, died at her home in Santa Monica on Friday night, it quoted her agent Judy Page as saying. Born in London, Simmons started acting in British films as a teenager and later moved to the United States to star in movies such as the 1955 musical "Guys and Dolls" with Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, and Stanley Kubrick's "Spartacus" with Kirk Douglas in 1960. Simmons won a best supporting actress Oscar nomination for playing Ophelia in "Hamlet" in 1948. (Reuters)

The U.S. Marine Corps wrapped up nearly seven years in Iraq yesterday, handing over duties to the U.S. Army and signaling the beginning of an accelerated withdrawal of American troops as the U.S. turns its focus away from the waning Iraqi war to a growing one in Afghanistan. In Baghdad, meanwhile, Vice President Joe Biden held talks with Iraqi leaders amid rising tensions over plans to ban election candidates because of suspected links to Saddam Hussein's regime. The White House worries this could raise questions over the fairness of the March 7 elections. (AP)

Saudi Arabia's assistant defense minister said yesterday that the bodies of 20 of the 26 soldiers reported missing were found on the border, raising the toll for the fight against Yemen's Shi'ite rebels to 133. Prince Khaled bin Sultan told reporters that the bodies were found after liberating areas around Dokhan mountain, a strategic high point in the rugged border region. (AP)

Pope Benedict XVI has a new commandment for priests struggling to get their message across: Go forth and blog. The pope, whose own presence on the Web has grown heavily in recent years, urged priests yesterday to use all multimedia tools at their disposal to preach the Gospel and engage in dialogue with people of other religions and cultures. And just using e-mail or surfing the Web is often not enough: Priests should use cutting-edge technologies to express themselves and lead their communities, Benedict said in a message released by the Vatican. (AP)

Source:haaretz.com/