U.S. Kosovo mission to last another year

Pristina, Kosovo

The United States will maintain its troop presence in Kosovo until at least late next year, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday, underlining U.S. support for the country, which declared independence in February in defiance of Serbia and Russia.

After meeting with Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and President Fatmir Sejdiu, Gates pledged to maintain the level of U.S. troops in Kosovo, where the United States has about 1,600 soldiers, part of a 16,000-member NATO peacekeeping force. He also said the United States would continue to provide Kosovo with military equipment and training.

Bangkok, Thailand

Anti-government protests turn violent

In Thailand's worst political violence in more than 16 years, police battled protesters who besieged the Parliament Tuesday in their struggle to change the country's government, leaving one dead and more than 400 injured.

Protesters retreated to the prime minister's office, which they have occupied since Aug. 26 in the latest chapter of the political drama that has bedeviled Thailand since early 2006, when large protests led to a military coup that ousted Thaksin Shinawatra, a tycoon-turned-prime minister accused of corruption and abuse of power.

A military-appointed interim government proved incompetent and Thaksin's political allies were restored to power by a December 2007 election, deepening the split between his rural majority supporters and urban-based opponents, who want to alter Thailand's electoral system to reduce the clout of his support base.

Rome

U.N. wants biofuel crops reconsidered

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization on Tuesday called for a review of biofuel subsides and policies, noting that they had contributed significantly to rising food prices and hunger in poor countries.

With policies and subsidies to encourage biofuel production in place in much of the developed world, farmers often find it more profitable to plant crops for fuel than for food, a shift that has helped lead to global food shortages.

As a result, the production of biofuels made from crops that could also be used for food increased more than threefold from 2000 to 2007.

Veracruz, Mexico

Storms along both coasts of Mexico

Tropical Storm Marco hit land with winds near hurricane strength about 55 miles north of Veracruz on Mexico's Gulf coast, shutting oil platforms and forcing the evacuation of some 3,000 people.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Mexico, Norbert strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane over the Pacific Ocean and forecasters said it could hit the southern Baja California Peninsula by the weekend before bringing rain to the northern mainland.

Also

Australia's air-safety bureau is investigating a glitch in the stabilization system of a Qantas plane that suddenly rose and plunged, tossing unbelted passengers to the ceiling and injuring more than 70 people during a flight from Singapore to Perth. The Airbus A330-300 airliner carrying 303 passengers and 10 crew was forced to make an emergency landing Tuesday in Learmonth, Western Australia.

Seattle Times news services