World Highlights

¤ A court in Belarus yesterday refused bail to an opposition leader detained after leading demonstrations against last month's re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko. But the same court granted early release to another activist convicted of economic crimes, including the theft of computers from the US embassy.

¤ An Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinian gunmen near the Gaza border yesterday as Israel kept up attacks that have killed civilians as well as militants. An army spokesman said an Israeli aircraft fired at two men who had approached the Israel-Gaza frontier carrying rifles. Palestinian security forces said the militants belonged to al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and were on their way to plant bombs.

¤ At least one European state has admitted to handing over terrorism suspects to foreign agents, the Council of Europe said yesterday citing a clear breach of the country's human rights duties. Council Secretary General Terry Davis refused to say which of the 46 members had secretly transferred suspects and said it was up to national authorities or the European Court of Human Rights to take action.

¤ Nepali troops shot dead an activist yesterday as violent pro-democracy protests flared for the seventh day across the troubled Himalayan nation. The latest death is the fourth during a mass campaign launched by political parties last Thursday to force the monarch to end his absolute rule.

¤ The Italian government, a close US ally, said yesterday it would not seek the extradition of 22 CIA agents accused of kidnapping a Muslim cleric in Milan and flying him to Egypt for interrogation. Justice Minister Roberto Castelli, after months of deliberation, said he would not forward to the US the extradition request written by Milan prosecutors, who want to eventually put the agents on trial.

¤ Hungary's biggest opposition party Fidesz said yesterday that its talks with the Democratic Forum (MDF) to forge an alliance for upcoming second-round elections on April 23 have failed.

¤ Blasts blamed on Tamil Tiger rebels and riots that followed killed 16 people yesterday and injured dozens in northeast Sri Lanka, officials said, raising fears that peace talks might not happen and war might restart.

¤ US and Afghan government troops killed six insurgents yesterday in a fresh offensive to clear militants from a violence-plagued eastern province, the US military said. The offensive, code named Operation Mountain Lion, was launched with air and ground assaults in Kunar province, where on Tuesday a rocket was fired into an open-air school, killing seven children and wounding more than 30.