World

A prosecutor said Monday that a Pakistani court acquitted Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in the murder of a retired judge. Zardari, who was accused of playing a role in the 1996 shooting deaths of the judge and his son, was acquitted "due to lack of evidence."

Strong currents hindered rescue efforts of 18 Ukrainian sailors trapped in a capsized tugboat in Hong Kong waters. The boat collided with a Chinese cargo ship Saturday and sank upside down. Rescuers said the "chances for survival" of the missing crew members was "very slim."

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said in a published interview Monday that he's asked North Korea to consider sending home South Korean prisoners of wars and captured civilians in return for humanitarian aid. South Korea is a key aid donor to the North, which relies on handouts to feed its 23 million people. More than 500 South Korean POWs captured during the Korean War and almost as many fishermen taken into custody since then are believed to be still alive in the North.

The flame for the Aug. 8-24 Beijing Olympics was lighted Monday in Greece using the sun's rays at a ceremony in Ancient Olympia. Two pro-Tibetan demonstrators briefly disrupted the event in protest of the bloody Chinese crackdown in Tibet.

In a new audiotape released Monday, deputy Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri called on Muslims to strike Jewish and American targets in revenge for Israel's recent offensive in the Gaza Strip. The message came on the heels of a call by Osama bin Laden to liberate the Palestinian territories.

East Timor's parliament voted Sunday to extend by one month a state of emergency imposed after last month's assassination attempts on the president and prime minister. The order bans rallies and imposes a curfew. East Timor has struggled with political turmoil and violence since it gained independence from Indonesia in 2002.

Pakistani officials said 100 people were injured and nearly 40 trucks carrying fuel to US-led forces in Afghanistan were destroyed by bomb attacks on the Pakistani border late Sunday.

Scientists participating in the most comprehensive marine survey to date of New Zealand's Antarctic waters were surprised by the size of some specimens they found, including jellyfish with 12-foot tentacles and 2-foot-wide starfish. The international research team also discovered "fields" of sea lilies that stretched for hundreds of yards across the ocean floor. The survey was conducted to determine the effects of global warming on Antarctica.

The ethnic Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA) returned to government in Macedonia Monday, restoring the coalition's parliamentary majority after quitting 10 days earlier in a dispute over minority rights. Albanians constitute 25 percent of the population. The DPA is seeking concessions from Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski for freer official use of the Albanian language and flag, and benefits for veterans of the 2001 Albanian guerrilla insurgency.

Officials from Cambodia's genocide tribunal traveled Monday to the United Nations in New York to request $114 million in additional funds for trying the Khmer Rouge's surviving leaders. The regime is accused of being responsible for an estimated 1.7 million Cambodian deaths during its 1975-79 rule. The long-delayed trials are expected to start this year.

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