Blast in resort town injures at least 21

ANKARA -- A bomb blast blew apart a minibus in a Turkish tourist resort late yesterday, injuring 21 people, including 10 British tourists, the local police chief said. The explosion was in the popular Mediterranean resort town of Marmaris. There were two other bomb blasts at the same time in garbage cans on the main boulevard in Marmaris, the state-owned Anatolia news agency reported. The area is lined with bars, clubs, cafes, and restaurants. There were no reports of injuries in those blasts. There was no immediate statement of responsibility for the blast. Kurdish guerrillas have in the past carried out such attacks against tourist resorts. (AP)

Israel

JERUSALEM -- Prime Minister Ehud Olmert illegally named political allies to a business authority when he was minister for industry and trade, officials said today. Olmert named four officials from his political party to key positions in the Small and Medium-Sized Business Authority, an official from the state comptroller's office, Zvi Vertikovsky, told Army Radio. A report on Olmert's involvement in the matter is slated to be released today, Vertikovsky said. (AP)

Sudan

KHARTOUM -- Journalism watchdog groups called on Sudan's government to release a two-time Pulitzer Prize- winning American journalist who was in custody yesterday on charges of espionage and other crimes. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said it was ``deeply troubled" over the arrest earlier this month of Chicago Tribune reporter Paul Salopek and the charges brought against him Saturday. Salopek, his driver, and interpreter were arrested Aug. 6 by progovernment forces in the war-torn Darfur region. Salopek, was working on a freelance assignment for National Geographic magazine at the time of his arrest. (AP)

KHARTOUM -- Sudan is engaged in a military buildup in the Darfur region, despite a May peace deal, threatening to create a new human rights catastrophe unless UN troops are deployed soon, the human rights groups Amnesty International said yesterday. The Security Council will discuss a draft resolution today proposing deployment of around 20,000 UN troops and police, despite Khartoum's rejection of any Darfur mission. (Reuters)

China

BEIJING -- The chief prosecutor of one of China's biggest cities and three members of parliament were dismissed yesterday amid separate allegations of misconduct, the main state news agency said. Li Baojin, chief prosecutor of the northern port city of Tianjin, was accused of ``severe breach of discipline," the Xinhua News Agency said. Xinhua did not give details, but a report in June by the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said Li was one of three Tianjin officials in trouble over fraudulent real estate deals. In separate cases, two members were ejected from the National People's Congress for alleged financial offenses, while another was dismissed following a hit-and-run car accident, Xinhua said. (AP)

Mexico

MEXICO CITY -- Leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said yesterday that if he fails to be named the country's president, he and his supporters will create a parallel government with him as head of the civil resistance. His comments were made to supporters in central Zocalo square as the Federal Electoral Tribunal announced that it would meet today to resolve Lopez Obrador's challenge to the July 2 election. (Dallas Morning News)