BANGKOK, Thailand — Thailand’s beloved and influential king was hospitalized Saturday after feeling weakness on the right side of his body, the royal palace said. The 79-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej was admitted to Bangkok’s Siriraj Hospital, where tests found a slightly inadequate blood flow to the brain, a palace statement said. He was kept in the hospital for monitoring. Bhumibol, the world’s longest-serving living monarch, is a unifying figure in Thailand. People usually turn to him in times of crisis, even though — strictly speaking — his powers are limited as a constitutional monarch.
Afghanistan: Suicide bomber strikes
A suicide bomber on a motorbike detonated his explosives in a crowded marketplace near Afghan police Saturday, killing seven people and injuring 29, officials said. The blast killed two police officers and five civilians in the city of Spin Boldak in the southern province of Kandahar near the border with Pakistan, an Interior Ministry spokesman said. Such attacks against Afghan police have become a trademark of Taliban suicide bombers.
Australia: Howard calls elections
Prime Minister John Howard today called general elections for Nov. 24 that will decide whether Australia will start bringing home its troops from Iraq. Howard, Australia’s second-longest serving leader, faces a tough battle to win a fifth term in office against Labor Party opposition leader Kevin Rudd, a Chinese-speaking former diplomat, who for months has held a commanding lead over the conservative Howard in opinion polls.
Colombia: Gold mine collapses
A landslide at a makeshift mine in southern Colombia killed at least 21 people and injured another 18 on Saturday after residents began digging for rumored deposits of gold, authorities said. Efforts were under way to find about 10 people missing and presumed trapped under the wave of dirt and rock in the open pit mine, located near the town of Suarez, 220 miles southwest of the capital, Bogota. With little to no oversight, mining accidents are a frequent occurrence in this Andean country.
Dominican Republic: Police are busted
Eleven Dominican police officers were detained Friday after authorities dismantled a drug lab operating in the same building as their police station, a department spokesman said. Four other men were arrested on suspicion of running the lab in Santo Domingo’s Villa Consuelo neighborhood, spokesman Ramon Francisco Rodriguez said. A police investigation is under way. The Dominican Republic and its western neighbor, Haiti, are considered key shipment points for drugs headed for Europe and North America.
Yemen: Police kill protesters
Riot police opened fire into a crowd of retired army officers Saturday, killing four people, activists and local medical officials said. The protesters were largely former soldiers who fought on the side of the breakaway south in a 1994 civil war. Southerners complain that they are kept out of government jobs, in favor of northerners brought in to fill the bureaucracy and security forces. Hundreds of protesters had gathered in the southern city of Radfan to prepare for a rally scheduled for today.
Vatican: Monsignor suspended
The Vatican said Saturday it has suspended a monsignor from a senior post at the Holy See after an Italian TV program using a hidden camera recorded him making advances to a young man and asserting that gay sex was not sinful. Monsignor Tommaso Stenico confirmed that he had been suspended from his post at the Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy, an office which aims to ensure proper conduct by priests. “Don’t condemn me,” Stenico said, adding that the program “was done fraudulently” because it used a hidden camera.
Massachusetts: Kennedy goes home
U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy was released from the Massachusetts General Hospital on Saturday, a day after surgery to clear a blockage in a major neck artery. Kennedy, 75, plans to rest for a few days at the family’s Hyannis Port compound before returning to work in the Senate, according to a statement from his office. The blockage in Kennedy’s left carotid artery, which supplies blood to the face and brain, was discovered Oct. 4.
Virginia: GOP plans convention
Virginia Republicans will hold a convention instead of a primary to choose their candidate to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. John Warner, upsetting critics who say it makes the party appear closed off. The state party’s central committee voted 47-37 on Saturday in favor of a convention. Former Gov. Jim Gilmore and U.S. Rep. Tom Davis have expressed interest in seeking the GOP nomination. Supporters of Gilmore wanted a convention, while Davis backers had argued for a primary. John Warner, 80, announced in August he would not seek a sixth consecutive Senate term next year.
From Herald news services
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