LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY

“There are some groups of American special forces - and Afghans considered to be part of the American special forces - who are conducting raids, searching houses, harassing and torturing people, and even murdering our innocent people.”

Aimal Faizi, spokesman for President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, where U.S. special operations forces were banned Sunday from operating in a strategic province adjoining Kabul Article, 1A

Tribal clash leaves 60 dead in Darfur

KHARTOUM, Sudan - Renewed fighting between two Arab tribes over mining rights left 60 people dead in the Darfur region, Sudan’s state news agency said Sunday.

The state news agency said fighting Saturday was the worst since a cease-fire agreement was reached last month.

The agency said fighting began when a group of armed tribesmen in vehicles and riding camels attacked the El-Sireaf area in North Darfur.

Sudan’s western region of Darfur has been afflicted by violence since 2003, when rebels took up arms against the central government in Khartoum. Fighting also periodically breaks out between tribes in the area.

According to the United Nations, more than 100 people have been killed and another 70,000 displaced from their homes because of recent tribal warfare in Darfur. The United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur said in a report issued last month that the deaths and displacement resulted from clashes between the Abbala and Beni Hussein tribes in Jabel Amir, the site of gold mines in North Darfur state.

Italians go to polls amid financial crisis

ROME - Italians voted Sunday for the first time since Europe’s financial crisis ushered in unelected leaders who imposed an austerity regime to stem the turmoil.

Turnout fell from the 2008 election, with the initial estimates of the result due today shortly after 3 p.m. in Rome, when the second day of balloting ends.

The populist campaigns of Beppe Grillo, once a television comic, and former three-time Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who is fighting a tax-fraud conviction, have focused on overturning the tax increases enacted by incumbent Mario Monti. Front-runner Pier Luigi Bersani of the Democratic Party and Monti have vowed to maintain budget rigor.

Monti, 69, was appointed by President Giorgio Napolitano in November 2011. With the backing of 80 percent of lawmakers, including Bersani’s party and Berlusconi’s allies, Monti implemented the austerity demanded by markets and European policy makers led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. He pushed through $26 billion of measures, including a tax on primary residences, and raised the retirement age.

Gas site attacked by terrorists reopens

ALGIERS, Algeria - A natural-gas installation in Algeria that was the site of a terrorist attack last month that left 37 hostages dead partially resumed production Sunday, as the head of the state-owned energy company said he would request armed personnel for energy plants to help prevent future assaults.

Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal started up one of three gas streams at the Ain Amenas site, putting the site at about 35 percent capacity, according to state radio.

On Jan. 16, a band of al-Qaida affiliated militants attacked the Ain Amenas complex and took dozens of foreign workers hostage. After a four-day standoff, the Algerian army moved in and killed 29 attackers and captured three others.

At least 37 hostages died in the battle.

Zimbabwe finds cash for referendum

HARARE, Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe’s broke coalition government said it has raised enough money privately to pay for a referendum on a new constitution March 16.

Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said the vote, just three weeks away, “will not be stopped because of lack of money,” the state Sunday Mail newspaper reported.

Chinamasa said the financing was “sourced locally” from commercial and business interests after the United Nations and other possible donors weren’t given enough time to contribute. The referendum date was declared a week ago.

The state election commission said it needs $85 million for the vote ahead of national elections later in the year to end the nation’s shaky coalition between President Robert Mugabe and the former opposition formed after the violent and disputed elections in 2008.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti said the United Nations cited bureaucratic procedures preventing it from providing referendum money, adding “we submitted our budgets a bit late,” the Sunday Mail reported.

Presidential and parliamentary elections are expected to be held around July.

Front Section, Pages 6 on 02/25/2013