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Israeli jets strike West Bank

GAZA, Nov. 21 (UPI) --

Israeli military aircraft struck targets in the Gaza Strip overnight Saturday after a rocket was fired from Palestinian territory into Israel, officials said.

Israeli military officials said two Hamas weapons plants and an arms smuggling tunnel were bombed, The Jerusalem Post reported. Unnamed Palestinian sources said five people were wounded, the newspaper said.

A Kassam rocket had been fired from Gaza into the Shaar Hanege region Saturday morning, causing no casualties or damage. An Israeli military spokesperson said the subsequent air attack was in retaliation.

The back-and-forth attacks came as Hamas said it had reached a deal with other terrorist groups in Gaza to cease firing rockets at the western Negev, the Post said.

The Chinese news agency Xinhua reported Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hamad said the decision had been made to avoid Israeli retaliatory attacks but that if Israeli soldiers entered the Gaza Strip, Palestinian militants would be given free rein to respond.

The Israeli prime minister's office responded that Hamas would be judged by its actions, not its words.

Meanwhile, Israeli President Shimon Peres was to head to Cairo Sunday to confer with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak about the diplomatic process with the Palestinians, Iran and kidnapped soldier Staff Sgt. Gilad Schalit.

China mine blast death kills 87

HARBIN, China, Nov. 21 (UPI) --

A gas explosion in an underground coal mine in northeastern China killed at least 87 miners and left 21 trapped in a shaft, officials said.

Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang rushed to the scene as 156 rescue workers gathered at the Xinxing Coal Mine in Hegang City in Heilongjiang province, about 250 miles east of the provincial capital of Harbin, where they worked on repairing the mine's damaged ventilation system, the state-run Chinese news service Xinhua reported.

The blast happened about 2:30 a.m. Saturday when a total of 528 miners were working underground. Company staff said 420 escaped.

Hegang Mining Bureau Hospital Deputy Director Pan Xiaowen told Xinhua the hospital had received 29 injured miners from the accident. The injured reportedly had burns, fractures and carbon monoxide poisoning.

The destroyed ventilation system, as well as a damaged communication infrastructure, were hampering efforts to reach the miners, who are trapped 1,650 feet underground, China News Agency reported.

Officials said Heilongjiang Longmei Mining Holding Group is the owner of the Xinxing Coal Mine.

Bishop named to replace Lahey

SAULT STE. MARIE, Ontario, Nov. 21 (UPI) --

Roman Catholic Bishop Brian Dunn, who replaces Raymond Lahey, the Canadian bishop facing child pornography charges, said Saturday the job will be challenging.

Dunn, who has been serving as auxiliary bishop in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, will start his new duties as bishop of the Diocese of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, in January, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

My first response was a response of gratitude, but at the same time, I really realized that there will be difficulties in the whole assisting people to be healed, Dunn said. "And so there were some hesitations -- do I have enough experience? Am I able to be with people in their difficulties?

But ultimately, I have a sense of the church, I have a sense of a call, I have a sense of faith that I believe will be helpful to this appointment.

Lahey is facing charges he imported and possessed pornographic images of young males allegedly discovered on his laptop computer after being detained at the Ottawa airport Sept. 15. He subsequently retired.

His next court appearance is Dec. 16.

Two small blasts rattle Calgary

CALGARY, Alberta, Nov. 21 (UPI) --

Two small explosive devices went off in Calgary Saturday, prompting police to empty about 25 units in two nearby apartment buildings as a precaution.

Police hesitated to call the devices bombs but said the blasts, which reportedly sounded like gunshots, were targeted, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported. Duty Inspector Frank Reuser said the devices were placed next door to an apartment suite.

It's very evident to me that the person who threw the devices away was probably within seconds of being injured or killed, he said.

Police had no suspects.

4 die in head-on Canadian car crash

CALGARY, Alberta, Nov. 21 (UPI) --

Two cars collided head-on on a divided highway in Canada Saturday afternoon, killing four people with a child the only survivor, police said.

The crash occurred shortly after noon on Highway 2 near Nanton, Alberta, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police told The Calgary Herald. The child was a passenger in a southbound car driven by one adult that collided with a northbound vehicle carrying three adults that veered across a median into its path, the newspaper said.

RCMP Cpl. A.J. Mand said when the northbound car came around the corner, it lost control.

The four adults, whose names weren't released, were dead at the scene. The unidentified child was airlifted to a Calgary hospital.

It was found in the (car) seat, fine, Mand said.

Resistant strain of H1N1 found in Wales

OSLO, Norway, Nov. 21 (UPI) --

A drug-resistant mutation of the H1N1 influenza virus has been found in hospital patients in Wales, the British National Health Service says.

Doctors say the strain is resistant to Tamiflu, the most common antiviral used against flu, The Times of London reported. The resistance is believed to have developed in one patient in the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff and spread to others.

All five had other medical conditions making them more vulnerable to flu. Two have been discharged, and one is in intensive care, while the other two remain in the hospital.

The Tamiflu-resistant virus has emerged in a group of particularly vulnerable individuals, a Department of Health spokesman said Friday. These patients are known to be at increased risk of developing resistance to the drug. Our strategy to offer antivirals to all patients with swine flu is the right one -- to help prevent complications and reduce the severity of the illness.

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health reported another H1N1 mutation Friday, found in three patients, including the first two to die from H1N1 in Norway.

The World Health Organization in Geneva said the mutation has been found in a few previous cases as long ago as April and in widely scattered countries, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The H1N1 vaccine and antiviral drugs used against H1N1 are effective with the mutation, WHO said.

Pope, Archbishop of Canterbury meet

VATICAN CIY, Vatican City, Nov. 21 (UPI) --

Pope Benedict XVI and Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams held a cordial meeting Saturday, their first since the Vatican targeted disaffected Anglicans.

The Vatican released a statement saying the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England and Anglican Communion discussed areas of common work and of difference. The two engaged in

cordial discussions, the statement said.

A recent Vatican initiative would allow congregations and even dioceses to become Catholic while keeping some of the Anglican liturgy and traditions. On Friday, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, the senior Catholic prelate in England, warned Anglicans should only make the move if they are prepared to accept papal authority and not just because of disagreements on the ordination of gay and women clergy.

The Vatican said the pope and Williams discussed recent events between their two churches and agreed to continue ecumenical discussions.

Sources in Rome told The Daily Telegraph the Vatican's respect for Williams has grown during his trip.

He hasn't flinched from bringing up difficult subjects, and has been respectful without being deferential, the source said.

Italian pol possibly linked to death

ROME, Nov. 21 (UPI) --

Officials have opened an investigation into a possible link between a dead transsexual prostitute and the former governor of an Italian province, police say.

Piero Marrazzo, ex-governor of Lazio, resigned from office Oct. 27 after an alleged blackmail attempt by three police officers emerged. It involved a video allegedly showing Marrazzo with a transsexual prostitute named Natalie.

A second prostitute, known as Brenda, had told police she had a second video on her computer. After she died Friday in an apparent apartment fire, police found the computer soaked in the sink of her unit, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

Police said she died of smoke inhalation, but that evidence of a flammable liquid was found near her burned, semi-nude body, ANSA said.

Police believe the computer may have been soaked to try and destroy its contents. It has been sent to a police lab, they said.

I'm not afraid because I didn't do anything, Natalie responded when asked about Brenda's death. I wasn't a friend of Brenda's. I never met her.

Romanians to vote for president

BUCHAREST, Romania, Nov. 21 (UPI) --

Millions of Romanians will go to the polls Sunday in the first round of the country's presidential election amid political turmoil, authorities say.

The election features 12 candidates, with two to face off in December's second round of elections. Only three of the current candidates are considered contenders, Romanian Web site HotNews.ro reported.

The parties of the leading candidates have been stymied in their efforts to form a new government, HotNews said. The main thrust of the campaign has been attacks on Romanian President Traian Basescu, who is running for re-election.

Voters will also cast ballots on a referendum called by Basescu to reshape Romania's parliamentary structure. The measure would replace Romania's two-chamber Parliament with a single-chamber, reducing the number of members, HotNews said.

Recent Romanian elections, including last year's parliamentary contest, were marked by voter apathy. Many Romanians voted for candidates considered only less worse than others, HotNews reported.

Orphan baby gorillas to get new home

BRAZZAVILLE, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nov. 21 (UPI) --

Two orphaned baby mountain gorillas will get a new sanctuary in the Congo, described by wildlife experts as a paradise, authorities said.

Ndeze and Ndakasi were orphaned two years ago when their mothers were killed in Virunga National Park, possibly by people illegally harvesting trees for charcoal, CNN reported Friday.

The orphans will be moved to the Senkwekwe Center, 2 1/2-acre plot of forest 3 miles from the mountain gorilla habitat in Virunga. Of the world's 700 surviving mountain gorillas, 200 live in Virunga Park, the U.S. news network said.

Authorities began construction of the center in 2007, but work was interrupted by civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, they said.

The center, with holding areas, visiting and education centers and veterinary facilities, is scheduled for completion in March.

This (will be) paradise for them, Samantha Newport, Virunga's communications director, said. They will be able to play around, climb trees and eat forest food.

Western Canadians facing major flooding

VICTORIA, British Columbia, Nov. 21 (UPI) --

Vancouver Island residents in British Columbia, Canada, are facing a state of emergency due to flooding in two communities, authorities said.

The Canwest News Service reported Saturday the Vancouver Island communities of North Cowichan and Duncan were under a state of emergency as pumps attempted to clear floodwaters from local houses and streets.

Officials said the emergency efforts appeared to be working as water levels were gradually decreasing Saturday morning.

The widespread flooding in the communities began Friday and at one point, nearly 300 homes and streets were submerged. The flooding prompted the evacuation of local homes, but residents have since been allowed to return.

For North Cowichan resident Stacy George, the emergency warning Friday came late.

We got the evacuation notice after we were flooded out, George said. What good is an evacuation notice when we know we have to get out of our houses because our stuff is floating around?

Canwest said forecasters predicted additional rainfall for the area Saturday.

Sri Lanka to free war-displaced Tamils

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Nov. 21 (UPI) --

Sri Lanka announced Saturday it will release 130,000 war-displaced Tamils living in a heavily guarded camp near Vavuniya since May.

The Tamils will be free to leave Dec. 1, said Basil Rajapaksa, the head of the Tamil resettlement program and brother of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

As many as 300,000 Tamils were put in the squalid camp after the Sri Lankan military defeated Tamil rebels this year, CNN reported Saturday.

The United Nations for months had pressed for release of the Tamils, while the government had said it needed time to sort refugees from rebels hiding in the camp.

The government plans to resettle the refugees by the end of January, Rajapaksa said. Many of them are from the Wanni region, which has yet to be cleared of land mines from the war.

Canadian forces help secure Afghan village

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Nov. 21 (UPI) --

Afghan and Canadian forces captured a Taliban-controlled village Saturday in Afghanistan's Panjwaii district, the Canadian military said.

The Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry battle group said in a statement the liberation of Nakhonay was part of a joint military effort aimed at securing approaches to Kandahar City, the Canwest News Service reported.

Since the operation began last weekend, coalition forces captured the village of Hajji Baba and began attempting to locate any insurgents in the area.

We know that some of the insurgents remain in Hajji Baba and the Nakhonay and it will take time for us to build relationships with locals and determine who is a local national and who is an insurgent, the battle group based in Alberta, Canada, said.

We don't know the composition of the insurgency in those areas, but it's likely that some are fighting for the cause for economic reasons because they have no other means of supporting their families.

Canwest said in Kandahar City Saturday, local residents were provided with food and other supplies by Canada's provincial reconstruction team.

Poll: Canadians question environment works

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 21 (UPI) --

A large percentage of Canadians are unhappy with their government's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, results of a survey indicate.

The (Toronto) Globe and Mail reported Saturday more than 75 percent of participants in a poll compiled by the Hoggan & Associates public relations firm said the Canadian government should be taking a more active role in the environmental effort worldwide.

The April survey, which polled 4,368 Canadians, found that participants tabbed the environment the third-most important issue facing Canada right now.

On top of the list of critical Canadian issues was the state of the economy with healthcare in second place ahead of the environment.

Among participants, 72 percent said climate change would have a serious impact on the environment, while 28 percent felt such concerns were exaggerated.

A separate survey of nearly 1,000 top Canadian members of business, government, media and universities indicated the environment was the top issue for participants. Second on the list of key issues for the participants in that survey was the economy, the Globe and Mail reported.

Man sentenced for gouging out woman's eye

EDINBURGH, Scotland, Nov. 21 (UPI) --

A judge in Scotland said a 26-year-old man will spend 12 years in prison for gouging out one of his ex-lover's eyes while trying to kill her.

Judge John Morris of the High Court in Edinburgh said Francis Murphy's attacks on his former girlfriend, Natalie Farrell, were nearly medieval in their barbarity given the fact he pulled out her eyeball and threw it off a high-rise balcony, The Scotsman reported Saturday.

You were convicted of crimes which are almost medieval in their barbarity and which would make any right-thinking person recoil in horror, Morris said Friday.

Murphy was convicted of breaking into the home of Farrell, 27, on May 26 and trying to strangle her. Murphy also attempted to throw Farrell off the balcony of her high-rise apartment and violently removed her eye during the attack.

Farrell testified Murphy was upset after she ended their relationship of 10 years and began sharing her home with another man. Farrell said while paramedics located her eye, medical workers couldn't re-attach it, The Scotsman reported.

Rioters ransack India TV station

MUMBAI, Nov. 21 (UPI) --

A mob angry over criticism of their right-wing leader by a Mumbai television station ransacked the broadcaster's offices, authorities say.

The rioters identified themselves as members of the regional Shiv Sena party who were incensed over criticism of their militant leader, Bal Thackeray, on the IBN Lokmat station, CNN reported Saturday.

Rajkumar Vhatkar, a deputy Mumbai commissioner of police, told the U.S. broadcaster seven people had been arrested, while about 15 to 20 people more suspects were expected to be taken into custody.

CNN said Shiv Sena and a breakaway group, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, claim to be champions of issues in Maharashtra state, and frequently focus their scorn on migrants lured to Mumbai for jobs.

IBN said a mob of 35-40 men armed with hockey sticks and martial arts canes barged into the IBN Lokmat offices Friday afternoon, smashing television sets, destroying computers, and damaging phones and other equipment before attacking the staff.

IBN Lokmat editor Nikhil Wagle was among those assaulted, the broadcaster said.

(The police) took 45 minutes (to arrive), when they should have been here in 10 minutes flat, Wagle said.

Study: Some Europeans support Serbia in EU

BELGRADE, Serbia, Nov. 21 (UPI) --

Students in Belgrade, Serbia, say study results indicate 25 percent of major European city residents support Serbia's integration into the European Union.

Belgrade political science students said their study indicates 25 percent of surveyed citizens in Vienna, Brussels, Berlin and Prague, Czech Republic, felt positive regarding Serbia's involvement in the European Union, Serbian broadcaster B92 reported Saturday.

Among the reasons provided by surveyed citizens for support of Serbia were the Serbian population's warmth and hospitality, along with Serbia's entertaining night life. Details of the study's methodology weren't provided.

Some of those opposed to Serbia's integration with the European Union cited the wars in the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s, B92 said.

Meanwhile, German Ambassador to Serbia Wolfram Maas told the broadcaster Germany is a full supporter of Serbia becoming an EU member-state.

I have never heard from anyone that they cannot see Serbia as a member of the European Union. There were other countries for which I heard things like that, but never for Serbia, Maas said.

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Reid looks to bring health bill to floor

WASHINGTON, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was set Saturday to seek a key procedural vote bringing the healthcare reform bill to the Senate floor, observers said.

Political analysts say Reid needs at least 60 votes to open debate on the bill, the first step in what is expected to be a long and rocky road for approval of the Democratic Party-backed reforms to the nation's healthcare infrastructure, CNN reported.

The majority leader has said he hopes for a final vote on the bill by the end of the year, well past President Barack Obama's original deadline of August, the U.S. broadcaster said.

While the House version of the healthcare reform bill passed by a 220-215 vote margin -- with 39 Democrats opposing it -- it will be easier for Republican critics to stifle the will of Democratic majority in the Senate, analysts said.

Should the reform bill pass the Senate and go to a House-Senate conference committee, a broad range of agreements have already been reached, such as subsidizing insurance for a family of four making up to roughly $88,000 annually, or 400 percent of the federal poverty level, CNN said.

FBI monitored alleged shooter's e-mail

WASHINGTON, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- The suspect in the Fort Hood, Texas, shootings allegedly traded coded e-mails regarding money transfers with a radical Muslim cleric, authorities said.

The alleged e-mails between Army Maj. Nidal Hasan and Anwar al-Awlaki intensified in the months before the Nov. 5 attack that killed 13 people, two sources close to the investigation told The Washington Post in a story published Saturday.

The two men discussed in cryptic and coded exchanges how to transfer money overseas in ways that would not attract law enforcement attention, an unidentified source told The Post, adding Hasan clearly became more radicalized toward the end.

The FBI monitored the e-mails but did not forward them to the military, government and congressional sources told The Post. Al-Awlaki, a Yemeni cleric who once lived in the United States, is considered by U.S. officials to be an al-Qaida supporter.

The commander of the U.S. Army in Europe is to investigate Hasan's years at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the Pentagon said Friday. Gen. Carter Ham will investigate reports Hasan's colleagues at Walter Reed were concerned about his performance and apparent embrace of radical Islam.

Hasan is recovering from gunshot wounds that have left him paralyzed.

China mine blast death kills 42

HARBIN, China, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- A gas explosion at a mine in northeast China's Heilongjiang province killed at least 42 workers and left 66 missing Saturday, officials said.

Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang rushed to the scene as 156 rescue workers gathered at the Xinxing Coal Mine in Hegang City, about 250 miles east of the provincial capital of Harbin, where they worked working on repairing the mine's damaged ventilation system, the state-run Chinese news service Xinhua reported.

Hegang Mining Bureau Hospital deputy director Pan Xiaowen told Xinhua the hospital had received 29 injured miners from the accident. The injured are reportedly suffering from burns, fractures and carbon monoxide poisoning.

The destroyed ventilation system, as well as a damaged communication infrastructure, were hampering efforts to reach the miners, who are trapped 1,650 feet underground, China News Agency reported.

Xinhua said the mining company confirmed that 528 workers were in the mine when the explosion occurred at 2:30 a.m., with 415 escaping the accident.

Officials said Heilongjiang Longmei Mining Holding Group is the owner of the Xinxing Coal Mine.

Hadron collider sends proton beam

GENEVA, Switzerland, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- A proton beam has been sent through the Large Hadron Collider, a key step in restarting the world's largest atom smasher, physicists in Switzerland said.

The physicists Friday succeeded in sending the beam clockwise around the 17-mile underground tunnel near Geneva, the European Organization for Nuclear Research said.

The effort marked a critical step in restarting the $9 billion collider, which was shut down after it's inaugural start up in September 2008 because of problems with electromagnets.

The past year's work has been a Herculean effort, Steve Myers, the collider's director for accelerators, said in a release.

Physicists aim to use the collider to investigate what the universe was like when it was less than a trillionth of a second old. To do that, protons of seven trillion volts each are to be smashed together to create tiny fireballs that replicate the conditions of the beginning of the universe, the physicists said.

Rebels attack village in Philippines

SURALLAH, Philippines, Nov. 21 (UPI) --

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front is being blamed for a second attack on a village in the southern Philippines, police said Saturday.

An estimated 40 gunmen burned three homes Friday night and forced villagers to flee from Upper Sepaka in the township of Surallah in south Cotabato province, police Superintendent Jose Calimutan said.

Members of the militant group last week ambushed and killed a chieftain in the village and another 300 rebels were seen in T'boli, Xinhua, China's state-run news agency, reported Saturday.

The government has sent additional soldiers and police to secure the area and hunt for the attackers.

The rebels claim the region as an ancestral Muslim domain and want it designated as an autonomous state, authorities said.

Britain to probe alleged Iraq troop abuse

LONDON, Nov. 21 (UPI) --

Britain's Ministry of Defense says it is launching an independent inquiry into allegations that soldiers tortured and killed Iraqi prisoners.

The inquiry, it said, comes as a result of criticism by the High Court over an earlier investigation by the Royal Military Police that found allegations of abuse and torture of Iraqi prisoners to be groundless, The Times of London reported Saturday.

The inquiry will center on the events of May 2004 at the Battle of Danny Boy. Human rights advocates allege that some of the 20 Iraqis claimed killed on the battlefield were actually tortured to death by troops at Camp Abu Naji, a British base.

The High Court slammed an RMP report clearing troops in the case as not thorough and proficient and seriously flawed.

In response, the Defense Ministry says it has established a Department of Judicial Policy Engagement to collect and prepare evidence of abuse for criminal trials.

While determining the truth is a job for that body I fully expect this independent inquiry will exonerate once and for all the brave and professional personnel involved in this incident, a British military spokesman told The Times.