Chavez threatens U.S. ambassador with expulsion

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said the U.S. ambassador was “provoking the Venezuelan people” and threatened Sunday to expel the American diplomat, whose convoy was chased Friday by pro-government protesters on motorcycles.

Chavez condemned the crowd of protesters for pelting U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield’s car with eggs and tomatoes, saying his government “rejects any kind of aggression.”

But he suggested Brownfield, who was returning from a visit to a ballpark in Caracas’ poor Coche neighborhood, sought a confrontation by failing to advise authorities adequately of his travel plans and venturing into a place where his presence was unwelcome.

“I’m going to throw you out of Venezuela if you continue provoking the Venezuelan people,” Chavez said in a nationally televised speech addressed to Brownfield. Chavez accused Washington of seeking to escalate tensions and threatening Venezuela.

Afghanistan: Bombings wound 17

Two bombings Sunday in Kandahar wounded 11 people, while a suicide attack outside an army base wounded six Afghan soldiers, officials said. The first of the twin blasts hit a convoy of Afghan army trucks, causing no casualties. The second bomb exploded about 10 minutes later, once the soldiers were searching the surrounding area along with police, and wounded three police officers, three soldiers and five civilians. In the third bombing, a suicide bomber drove up to the gates of an army base in Paktika’s Gomal district and detonated explosives hidden inside his vehicle, an army commander said.

Pakistan: Stampede kills 29

A stampede at the end of a religious gathering on Sunday to mark the birth of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad left at least 29 women and children dead in southern Pakistan. The stampede, which police said did not appear deliberately caused, occurred as thousands of women were leaving the Sunni Muslim Faizan-e-Medina center in Karachi, said Hanees Billu, a spokesman for the center.

Australia: Oil-for-food denial

Alexander Downer, Australia’s foreign minister, on Sunday denied U.N. accusations his department was involved in alleged kickbacks paid by the country’s monopoly wheat exporter – the Australian Wheat Board, now known as AWB Ltd. – to Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq via a Jordanian trucking company.

Italy: Tree falls on tourists; 1 dies

A century-old tree fell on a group of deaf Italian tourists in L’Aquila on Sunday, killing a man and injuring seven people who were unable to hear a bus driver’s shout of alarm, police said. It was not immediately clear what caused the tree to topple over, police said.