Suicide bombing kills 43 in Algeria

Algiers, Algeria

A suicide bomber drove a car full of explosives into a line of applicants at an Algerian police academy Tuesday, killing at least 43 people in the deadliest terror attack to jolt this energy-rich U.S. ally since the 1990s.

Violence has dramatically increased since 2006, when Algeria's last big extremist group left over from a quieted insurgency in the 1990s renamed itself al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa and joined Osama bin Laden's network.

Algeria's insurgency broke out in 1992 after the army canceled the second round of legislative elections that an Islamist party was expected to win. The ensuing conflict killed up to 200,000 people, with massacres blamed on both sides.

Lusaka, Zambia

Zambian president dies after stroke

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, who oversaw a revival of the southern African nation's economy and clamped down on corruption during his six-year tenure, has died. He was 59.

Mwanawasa suffered a stroke in Egypt on June 29, while attending an African Union summit. He was transferred to the military hospital outside Paris for treatment.

Mwanawasa recently broke ranks with other African leaders and criticized Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who claimed victory in a violence-ridden election on June 27 that was boycotted by the opposition.

Sucre, Bolivia

Bolivian unrest over autonomy

Leaders in five opposition-controlled states proclaimed a general strike Tuesday, paralyzing a broad swath of this deeply divided Andean nation.

Clashes broke out in the eastern city of Santa Cruz, epicenter of the political opposition, where anti-government protesters fought with loyalists of President Evo Morales.

The states are seeking bolstered autonomy and a greater share of royalties from the extraction of gas and petroleum, which are mostly drilled in regions controlled by the opposition. Morales, Bolivia's first Indian president, has nationalized energy, mining and telecommunications companies and is a strong ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.

Morales has accused U.S. officials of conspiring with right-wing elements to oust him.

Belfast, Northern Ireland

Semtex used in Ulster attack

A man used Semtex in a rocket-propelled-grenade attack against Northern Ireland police officers — the first attack using the deadly explosive since paramilitary groups agreed to hand in their weapons, police said Tuesday.

Dissident groups have attacked police seven times since November, but they have never used Semtex, Northern Ireland police Deputy Chief Constable Paul Leighton said. One officer sustained minor injuries in Saturday's attack, although the grenade failed to explode.

The Semtex — a plastic explosive — is thought to have been part of a weapons cache that was decommissioned by the IRA as part of the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement.

Also

iPod slaying: A 14-year-old school boy in eastern India has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a younger student who refused to hand over her iPod, police said Tuesday.

18 miners dead: Eighteen of 25 miners trapped in a Chinese coal mine after an explosion Monday died and the fate of the rest is unknown, a government office said.

Seattle Times news services