Bombs shattered a bus Thursday and exploded outside a hotel where President Bush is to stay this weekend, back-to-back attacks that killed four people, wounded 17 and heightened security concerns over an upcoming NATO summit. Authorities said militant leftists were suspected in the blasts in Istanbul, which killed four people and wounded 14, and an earlier attack outside a luxury hotel in Ankara that injured three others, including two police officers. Three suspects were detained in Istanbul, police said.
Britain: BBC plans Arabic channel
The British Broadcasting Corp. said Thursday it was in talks with the government about launching a 24-hour Arabic-language TV news channel to compete with the Qatar-based satellite station Al-Jazeera. The channel, which would broadcast across the Middle East, would also be available to viewers in Britain and Europe. The BBC said it was discussing the plans with the Foreign Office, which provides funding for the BBC World Service radio network.
Australia: American falls off cliff
An American tourist in Australia was in a critical condition in hospital Thursday after falling 230 feet into a canyon, officials said. The 21-year-old man from Texas fell Wednesday from a lookout in Morton National Park, in New South Wales state’s southern highlands, south of Sydney. He’d been walking with friends in the park and climbed over the lookout’s safety barrier to retrieve a shoe when he fell, ambulance officials said. The man was suffering from serious head and spinal injuries, officials said.
From Herald news services
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