Pirates threaten to destroy ship

NAIROBI - The pirates who hijacked an arms-laden Ukrainian tanker off Somalia issued an ultimatum yesterday and threatened to destroy the ship if no ransom is paid, a spokesman for the bandits said. The MV Faina is surrounded by US warships, and a Russian frigate is heading toward the scene, raising the stakes for a possible commando-style raid on the ship. (AP)

TKVIAVI - Russia has only partly met its obligations under an EU-negotiated cease-fire, the French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, said yesterday as he spoke to Georgians displaced by the August war. But Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev insisted yesterday that Russia had fully met its pledges. (AP)

LA PAZ - Hurricane Norbert strengthened to a Category 2 storm and bore down on Mexico's southern Baja California Peninsula yesterday. Norbert, with winds of 100 miles per hour, was expected to hit land early today.(AP)

LIMA - Shining Path rebels ambushed a column of military trucks in Peru's southeastern mountains with a bomb and gunfire, the military high command said yesterday, killing 12 soldiers and seven civilians in the deadliest rebel attack in years. (AP)

NEW DELHI - Surgeons successfully removed gallstones from the Dalai Lama yesterday, a top aide said. (AP)