The world in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY “There are things that we can do to help the Iraqis that do not involve putting U.S. troops on the ground.” House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, on U.S. efforts to assist the Iraq government in regaining control of the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi from al-Qaida militants Article, this page Sharon’s condition ‘grave,’ hospital says

JERUSALEM - Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s health deteriorated sharply Thursday and he was in “grave condition” with his family by his bedside, the hospital treating him announced.

Sharon, who has been in a coma since suffering a stroke eight years ago, experienced a setback last week with a decline in his kidneys and other key bodily organs.

The Sheba Medical Center called his condition “grave” but gave no further details.

Sharon suffered the stroke at the height of his political power.

Sharon’s career stretched across most of Israel’s 65-year history.

As one of Israel’s most famous generals, he engineered Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon, and lost his job as defense minister after an Israeli-allied Christian militia killed hundreds of Palestinians at refugee camps in west Beirut, sparking international anger.

First elected prime minister in 2001, he led a tough crackdown against a Palestinian uprising, a bout of violence in which more than 3,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis were killed. He remains reviled in much of the Arab world.

Karzai to free 72 despite U.S. warning

KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday ordered the release of 72 prisoners accused of attacking foreign and government forces, despite U.S. fears that the inmates could return to the insurgency.

The issue has been a sticking point in Afghan-U.S. relations as the two sides struggle to agree on a framework for the withdrawal of American and allied forces by the end of this year and the aftermath. Last week, a group of U.S. senators met Karzai in Kabul to warn him that release of the 88 detainees from the Parwan Detention Facility “would be a major step backwards” for U.S.-Afghan relations.

A review of the prisoners’ cases by Afghan intelligence and judicial officials turned up no evidence of wrongdoing for 45 of the detainees, and there was insufficient evidence on another 27, so they must be released, Karzai said in a statement. He gave no details on when the release will take place.

Also in Afghanistan, the U.S.-led international coalition in Afghanistan said two of its service members and one civilian employee have died in an aircraft accident.

A NATO statement said the “aircraft mishap” happened today in eastern Afghanistan. The alliance provided no details on the accident, and the names and nationalities of those killed were not released.

6 killings, explosives raise Russian fears

MOSCOW - The discovery of several improvised explosive devices and the bodies of six men shot dead put security forces on higher alert in Russia’s North Caucasus region Thursday and added new concerns about violence ahead of the Olympic Games planned for the resort city of Sochi next month.

The police found the bodies of the men Wednesday in several abandoned cars near the city of Pyatigorsk in the Stavropol region, about 170 miles east of the Olympic site, and the explosives next to the cars, a law-enforcement spokesman said. One of the devices detonated, and a bomb squad disarmed two more, he said.

No one was injured in the blast, he said, and it was not immediately clear whether the killings were intended as an act of terror or were connected to gangland-style violence.

The Stavropol region borders several turbulent North Caucasus republics, where Russia is struggling to quell an Islamist insurgency that has resulted in explosions and shootouts between outlaws and local police almost daily.

French court OKs extradition of banker

PARIS - A French court ruled Thursday that Mukhtar Ablyazov, a Kazakh businessman accused of embezzling as much as $6 billion from the Kazakh bank BTA, which he once controlled, should be extradited to Ukraine or Russia to face fraud charges.

The court, in the southern city of Aix-en-Provence, said it preferred that he be sent to Russia, since the extent of the embezzlement alleged by Moscow - about $5 billion - was far larger than that alleged by Ukraine. BTA operates in both countries, as well as in Kazakhstan. Ablyazov’s lawyer, Olivier Quesneau, said he would appeal the judgment, potentially extending his imprisonment for many more months.

Front Section, Pages 6 on 01/10/2014

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