The world in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“We are still getting response from survivors though they are becoming weaker slowly.”

Brig. Gen. Ali Ahmed Khan, the head of fire services, at the site of a building that collapsed Wednesday in Bangladesh Article, 1A

Boeing 787 commercial flights resume

KAMPALA, Uganda - A Boeing 787 operated by Ethiopian Airlines flew from Ethiopia to Kenya’s capital Saturday, the first commercial flight since air-safety authorities grounded the Dreamliners after incidents in which batteries caught on fire on two different planes in January.

The Boeing 787 passenger jet arrived in Nairobi on Saturday afternoon after a two-hour trip from Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, according to the Kenyan airport’s website.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has approved Boeing’s redesigned battery system, which the company says sharply reduces the risk of fire.

Richard Horigan, a Boeing engineer, told reporters in Nairobi last week that all potential causes of battery fire have been eliminated with the new system. But he noted the root cause of smoldering batteries experienced by the two different 787s might never be known because the evidence was destroyed by heat.

“We would like to thank Ethiopian Airlines for the patience, support and leadership shown throughout the period that the 787 Dreamliner has been grounded,” Boeing Commercial Airplanes President Ray Conner said.

10 killed in Iraq, including 5 soldiers

BAGHDAD - Gunmen killed 10 people in Iraq on Saturday, including five soldiers near the main Sunni protest camp west of Baghdad, the latest in a wave of violence that has raised fears the country faces a new round of sectarian bloodshed.

The attack on the army intelligence soldiers in the former insurgent stronghold of Ramadi drew a quick response from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose Shiite-led government has been the target of rising Sunni anger over perceived mistreatment.

The attackers stopped a vehicle carrying the soldiers near the protest camp, prompting a gun battle that left the five soldiers dead and two of the attackers wounded, police officials said.

Al-Maliki vowed his government would not keep silent over the killing of the soldiers. Iraqi officials have repeatedly claimed that insurgent groups, such as al-Qaida in Iraq and supporters of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s regime, have infiltrated the Sunni demonstrations.

“I call upon the peaceful protesters to expel the criminals targeting military and police,” al-Maliki said.

American detainee faces N. Korean trial

PYONGYANG, North Korea - North Korea announced Saturday that an American detained for nearly six months is being tried in the Supreme Court on charges of plotting to overthrow the government, a crime that could draw the death penalty if he is convicted.

The case involving Kenneth Bae, who has been in North Korean custody since early November, further complicates relations between North Korea and the U.S. after weeks of heightened rhetoric and tensions.

Bae was arrested in early November in Rason, a special economic zone in North Korea’s far northeastern region bordering China and Russia, according to official state media. In North Korean dispatches, Bae, a Korean-American, is called Pae Jun Ho, the North Korean spelling of his Korean name.

The exact nature of his purported crimes has not been revealed, but North Korea accuses Bae, described as a tour operator, of seeking to overthrow North Korea’s leadership.

Friends and colleagues described Bae as a devout Christian from Washington state but based in the Chinese border city of Dalian who traveled frequently to North Korea to feed the country’s orphans.

Letta, Berlusconi build Italian coalition

ROME - Center-left leader Enrico Letta forged a new Italian government Saturday in a coalition with former Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s conservatives, an unusual alliance of bitter rivals that broke a two-month political impasse from inconclusive elections in the recession-mired country.

The achievement was pulled off by Letta, who will be sworn in as premier along with the new Cabinet today at the presidential Quirinal Palace.

Letta, 46, is a moderate with a reputation as a political bridge-builder. He is also the nephew of Berlusconi’s longtime adviser, Gianni Letta, a relationship seen as smoothing over often nasty interaction between the two main coalition partners.

Serving as deputy premier and interior minister will be Berlusconi’s top political aide, Angelino Alfano. He is a former justice minister who was the architect of legislation that critics say was made to help media mogul Berlusconi with his judicial woes.

Front Section, Pages 8 on 04/28/2013

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