Eurasia

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – An al Qaeda chemical and biological weapons expert named Abu Khabab al-Masri was killed in a suspected U.S. missile strike, Pakistani intelligence officials said a day after the attack.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani sought on Monday to reassure U.S. President George W. Bush of his government’s commitment to securing its border with Afghanistan, where Taliban and al Qaeda militants pose a growing threat.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Bombs killed 15 people and wounded around 140 in Istanbul late on Sunday, just hours ahead of a court case over banning the governing party that has plunged Turkey into political turmoil.

(Reuters) – At least 13 people died and up to 100 were wounded on Sunday when two bombs exploded in a shopping district in Istanbul, on the eve of Constitutional Court hearings that could end with the closure of Turkey’s governing AK Party.

BELGRADE (Reuters) – The legal team of war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic has filed an appeal to delay his extradition to the United Nations tribunal in The Hague, Karadzic’s brother said on Sunday.

SALZBURG, Austria (Reuters) – The arrest of Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic showed Belgrade’s willingness to recognize its international obligations, and more arrests could follow, the Serbian prime minister said on Sunday.

KIEV (Reuters) – Floods described by a senior government official as the worst in a century have killed 13 people in western Ukraine and four in neighboring Romania, officials said on Sunday.

CAIRO (Reuters) – An Egyptian criminal court found the owner of a Red Sea ferry not guilty of manslaughter on Sunday over the deaths of more than 1,000 passengers when the vessel caught fire and sank in 2006, court sources said.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia announced plans on Sunday to revive its once-mighty navy by building several aircraft carriers and upgrading its fleet of nuclear submarines in the coming years.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – The Constitutional Court begins deliberating on Monday on whether the ruling AK Party has engaged in Islamist activities and should be closed, a case that has plunged Turkey into political and economic uncertainty.