World Digest

Taliban threaten voters in runoff

KABUL (AP) — Taliban militants threatened Afghans with violence yesterday if they vote in the Nov. 7 runoff presidential election, as President Hamid Karzai’s campaign ruled out any power-sharing deal to avoid another ballot.

President Barack Obama’s administration is hoping the runoff will produce a legitimate government after massive ballot-rigging sullied the first-round vote Aug. 20. Another flawed election would cast doubt on the wisdom of sending tens of thousands more U.S. troops to support a weak government tainted by fraud.

The Taliban issued their warning on the first official day of campaigning for the runoff, denouncing the contest between Karzai and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah as “a failed, American process.”

They said fighters would “launch operations against the enemy and stop people from taking part” in the election, warning that anyone who casts a ballot “will bear responsibility for their actions.”

Taliban fighters killed dozens of people during the August balloting, firing rockets at several provincial cities and cutting off voters’ ink-stained fingers that indicated they had cast ballots.

The new threat adds pressure on U.S. and Afghan commanders to protect voters — one of the manifold challenges facing Afghanistan’s government and its international partners in organizing another election in less than three weeks. American commanders say the Afghans will bear the primary responsibility, with U.S. and NATO forces advising and standing by in case they’re needed.

25 dead after two trains collide

CAIRO - A passenger train collided with the back of a second one just outside of Cairo yesterday, destroying several passenger cars and killing at least 25 people, a police official said.

At least 55 others were wounded in the accident, which occurred in Girzah district of 6th of October province, said the official.

Female journalist gets 60 lashes

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - A Saudi court yesterday sentenced a female journalist to 60 lashes after she had been charged with involvement in a TV show in which a Saudi man publicly talked about sex.

Rozanna al-Yami, 22, is believed to be the first Saudi woman journalist to be given such a punishment.

Al-Yami, who worked as a coordinator for the program but has denied working on the sex-show episode, said it was her understanding that the judge at the court in the western city of Jiddah dropped the charges against her.

But she said he still handed down the lashing sentence "as a deterrence."

Scandal hits Italy leftist party

ROME - A scandal has rocked Italy's main opposition party on the eve of a nationwide primary today designed to select a new leader and relaunch the party's sagging fortunes.

The case centers on widespread media reports that a video shows center-left politician Piero Marrazzo in the company of a transsexual in a Rome apartment. Four policemen have been arrested for allegedly attempting to blackmail the 51-year-old Marrazzo, and an investigation is under way.

Marrazzo yesterday that he was stepping aside from the high-profile job of governor of the Lazio region, which includes Rome, and leaving his responsibilities to his deputy. Marrazzo said in a statement that the move paved the way for his full-fledged resignation.