North Korea's leader in China

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has traveled to China on a rare trip outside his country, a South Korean military-intelligence official said today.

The official said he received the information from intelligence inside China. The official spoke on condition his name not be used. "We confirmed he went to China," the official said. "We don't know why."

China's foreign ministry said it could not confirm the report and had no comment.

Kim, who seldom travels abroad, last visited China in April 2004 for a summit with Chinese leaders. North Korea and China, both communist countries, have traditionally had close ties.

Santiago, Chile

Judge grants Pinochet bail

A judge on Monday granted bail to former military strongman Augusto Pinochet in the case of nine dissidents who disappeared during his dictatorship, but the general will remain under house arrest while another court reviews the decision.

Judge Victor Montiglio set bail at $19,200 but said the Santiago Court of Appeals must uphold his decision before Pinochet can end his six-week-long house arrest.

Pinochet, 90, has remained in his suburban Santiago mansion since Nov. 24 on charges stemming from Operation Colombo, in which 119 people were killed in 1975, two years after Pinochet seized power in a bloody coup. The Pinochet regime claimed the victims — whose bodies were never found — died in clashes among rival armed opposition groups.

Kampala, Uganda

Rebel convicted of killing tourists

A judge convicted a Rwandan rebel Monday of killing eight foreign tourists in 1999, including an Oregon couple and their guide who were on a gorilla-watching trip.

Jean-Paul Bizimana, alias Xavier Van Dame, was to be sentenced at a hearing Friday and could face the death penalty. Three other men were arrested in March 2003 in connection with the killings, and have been sent to the United States to stand trial in the deaths of the two Americans.

Rwanda rebels hacked and bludgeoned the travelers to death in a remote rain forest near Uganda's borders with Congo and Rwanda where the party had gone to see the rare animals. The rebels specifically targeted English-speaking people in a bid to weaken U.S. and British support for the new Rwandan government.

The victims included Rob Haubner and his wife, Susan Miller, of Portland.

Gaza City, Gaza Strip

Palestinian vote on track for Jan. 25

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said Monday that he would hold parliamentary elections Jan. 25 as scheduled after he received U.S. assurances that Arab residents of east Jerusalem will be allowed to vote in the city.

Abbas' announcement alleviated some fears that he was planning to call off the vote under pressure from members of his Fatah party concerned that the popular Hamas militant group would embarrass Fatah at the polls.

Abbas said Monday that the ongoing chaos in Gaza — much of it caused by Fatah-affliated militants — is aimed at scuttling the elections.

Also

A German university plans to give back a fragment of the Parthenon sculptures, marking the first time any piece of the statues held outside Greece has been returned to Athens, the Culture Ministry said Monday. The vice-rector of Heidelberg University, Angelos Chaniotis, informed Greek Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis of the decision during a meeting Monday in Athens, the ministry said.

Compiled from The Associated Press and Reuters