Iran test fires another missile

Iran conducted its second major test of a new missile within days on Sunday, firing a high-speed torpedo it said no submarine or warship can escape.

The tests came during war games that Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have been holding in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea since Friday — and at a time of increased tensions with the U.S. over its nuclear program.

On the maneuvers' first day, Iran said it successfully tested the Fajr-3 missile, which can avoid radar and hit several targets simultaneously using multiple warheads.

The new torpedo, called the "Hoot," or "whale," could raise concerns over Iran's power in the Gulf, a vital corridor for the world's oil supplies and where the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet is based. During Iran's war with Iraq in the 1980s, Iranian ships attacked oil tankers in the Gulf, and Iran and the U.S. military engaged in limited clashes.

Zhaoyuan, China

20 workers killed, 9 missing after blast

A blast at an explosives plant in eastern China killed at least 20 workers and injured two, the government said Sunday. Nine workers were missing.

The blast occurred Saturday at an explosives packing workshop owned by 761 Explosive in Zhaoyuan city, in the coastal province of Shandong, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing a local official.

The report said 31 people were in the workshop when the blast occurred. Rescuers were searching Sunday for the nine missing workers, it said. The two injured were hospitalized in stable condition.

Nouakchott, Mauritania

32 migrants missing after boats collide

A boat packed with West Africans trying to reach Europe collided with a fishing vessel, leaving 32 of the migrants missing and believed drowned, Mauritanian officials said Sunday.

Mauritania, located in the northwest of Africa about 600 miles from Spain's Canary Islands, has increasingly become a jumping-off point for Africans from other countries to sneak into Europe seeking a better life.

More than 1,000 Africans have died in the past four months trying to sail in small wooden boats to the Canary Islands, Mauritania's Red Crescent branch has said.

Violence continues; 4 people killed

A group of men stopped a passenger bus and tossed gasoline bombs at it, sending the vehicle careening into pedestrians and killing three in Turkey's largest city on Sunday as pro-Kurdish riots continued to spread.

In the country's heavily Kurdish southeast, a pro-Kurdish demonstrator was killed, and local officials blamed police for his death.

Clashes between Kurdish demonstrators and security forces have spread from the southeast to Istanbul, which has a large Kurdish population.

Also

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh criticized the United States on Sunday for restricting diplomatic ties with the Hamas government, saying his people were being punished for electing the militant Islamic group.

Compiled from The Associated Press