Dozens killed in Sudanese jetliner crash

Khartoum, Sudan

A Sudanese Airbus carrying 214 people veered off the runway in a thunderstorm and burst into flames late Tuesday, killing dozens unable to escape the inferno. Officials said more than 100 people fled before the jet was engulfed in flames.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene said the Sudan Airways jetliner appeared to have left the runway after landing at Khartoum International Airport, and several loud explosions resounded as fire raced through the aircraft.

The Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that 103 passengers and all 11 crew members survived. In addition, it said some other passengers may have gone home directly after the crew helped them through the emergency doors. Officials said most aboard were Sudanese.

Death-toll reports conflicted. State TV said dozens died. Deputy parliament speaker Mohammed al-Hassan al-Ameen said "about 30 people" died, while police spokesman Mohammed Abdel Majid al-Tayeb said 23 bodies were brought to the morgue.

Yangon, Myanmar

Experts allowed into delta region

Hundreds of experts began assessing the needs of Myanmar's cyclone victims Tuesday as the country's military junta gave them access five weeks after the disaster.

Some 250 experts from the U.N., the Myanmar government and Southeast Asia nations headed into the Irrawaddy delta on trucks, boat and helicopters for a village-by-village survey.

Over 10 days, they will determine how much food, clean water and temporary shelter the 2.4 million survivors need and the cost of rebuilding houses and schools and reviving the farm-based economy.

The United Nations estimates more than 1 million of the storm's survivors, mostly in the delta, still need help. Cyclone Nargis killed more than 78,000 people.

Athens, Greece

Islanders sue Lesbian group

Three islanders from Lesbos told a court Tuesday gay women insult their home's identity by calling themselves lesbians.

The plaintiffs — two women and a man — are seeking to ban a Greek gay-rights group from using the word "lesbian" in its name.

Also known as Mytilini, Lesbos was the home of the ancient poet Sappho, who praised love among women. It is a major travel destination for gay women.

A spokeswoman for the group accused the plaintiffs of homophobia.

Also

Pakistan: Hundreds of lawyers Tuesday began a two-day march from the southern city of Karachi to Islamabad, the capital, to demand the reinstatement of 60 judges removed by President Pervez Musharraf.

Aid to Sudan: Flights that deliver doctors, relief workers and supplies to remote areas of Sudan's western Darfur region are being cut because of lack of funding, the U.N. World Food Program said Tuesday.

Beijing: A stuntman was killed and six others injured in a fire Monday while shooting an action scene in Beijing in director John Woo's Chinese historical epic "Red Cliff," the film's crew and Chinese media said Tuesday.

Ukraine: Dozens of miners caught in an explosion that killed at least one this week had violated a work ban that was imposed because of dangerous methane levels, Ukraine's safety agency said.

Spain: Police arrested eight Algerian-born men in Barcelona, Pamplona and the northeastern province of Castellon on Tuesday, suspected of giving financial and logistical support to a terrorist group in Algeria linked to al-Qaida, Spain's Interior Ministry said.

Seattle Times news services