Bush OK's $285m in aid for Mongolia

WASHINGTON - President Bush approved $285 million yesterday for Mongolia, the latest country to receive US aid in exchange for committing to democratic reforms. The public aid is part of the Millennium Challenge, a Bush initiative to reduce global poverty by trying to encourage economic freedoms and strengthen human rights. So far, about $5 billion is committed for 16 countries; Mongolia became the 15th to have a signed compact with the United States. Mongolia, a former communist country sandwiched between Russia and China, will receive the money over five years if it complies with all requirements. The largest share of the aid package will be used to improve the railroad system in Mongolia. Other money will go to support health and education. (AP)

BEIRUT - Lebanon's presidential election has been postponed until next month to give rival factions time to agree on a compromise candidate, officials said yesterday. The 128-member parliament, dominated by anti-Syrian legislators, was scheduled to meet today to try for a second time to choose a successor to pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, who steps down Nov. 24. An opposition boycott prevented the previously scheduled election last month. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri decided to postpone the parliamentary session to elect the president until Nov. 12, said a statement issued by the parliament's secretariat general. (AP)

PORT-AU-PRINCE - Three gunmen kidnapped a Swiss man from a community southeast of the Haitian capital over the weekend, UN police said yesterday. Thomas Noreinne, whose age and profession were not immediately known, was seized from an SUV in Petionville, a district near Port-au-Prince that is home to many foreigners and diplomats, UN police spokesman Fred Blaze said. Officials with the Swiss embassy in Port-au-Prince confirmed the kidnapping. (AP)

CAIRO - A US Navy sailor shot and killed two female sailors early yesterday in the barracks an American military base in Bahrain, officials said. The alleged shooter, a man, was critically wounded in the shooting at the US Naval Support Activity Bahrain base, said a Navy official who was not authorized to release the information to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity. A State Department official in Washington said it appeared to be a case of a jilted boyfriend shooting and killing his ex-girlfriend and then shooting himself. It was not clear if the second female victim was romantically involved, the official said. (AP)

MEXICO CITY - President Bush asked Congress yesterday to approve a $1.4 billion aid package over the next two years to help the Mexican government fight narcotics traffickers. The plan calls for the United States to give Mexico $500 million over the next 12 months to provide training for police and tools to dismantle drug cartels, including helicopters, surveillance planes, drug-sniffing dogs and software to track cases. (New York Times News Service)