WORLD IN BRIEF: Kim’s health has setback, report says

New South Korean intelligence indicates ailing North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has suffered a serious setback in his recovery from a stroke and has been hospitalized. The report in the Dong-a Ilbo newspaper cited an unnamed government official in saying intelligence suggested “a serious problem” with Kim’s health. Kim, 66, reportedly suffered a stroke and underwent brain surgery in August. A Japanese TV station said his eldest son went to Paris to recruit a neurosurgeon who was flown back to Asia to treat Kim.

U.N. vote urges repeal of embargo

The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution urging the U.S. to repeal its 47-year-old trade embargo against Cuba. The vote in the 192-member world body was 185 to 3, with 2 abstentions.

More than 20 dead in suicide attacks

A wave of suicide bombings killed more than 20 people Wednesday in northern Somalia, striking just as international leaders held talks on ending decades of deadly turmoil in the chaotic African nation. The five seemingly coordinated attacks targeted a U.N. compound, the Ethiopian consulate and the presidential palace in Somaliland’s capital, Hargeisa. All occurred in the breakaway republic of Somaliland and in Somalia’s Puntland region —- both of which have largely been spared the deadly violence seen in the country’s south.

President promises smooth transition

President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom promised a smooth transition from his three-decade rule after a bitter political rival vanquished him in the Maldives’ first democratic election. In a rare show of unity, Gayoom and President-elect Mohamed Nasheed jointly addressed the nation after the results from Tuesday’s runoff were announced and agreed to work together.

Anti-terrorism law passes first test

A Canadian of Pakistani descent accused of plotting with a group of British Muslims to bomb buildings and natural gas lines in Britain was convicted of financing and facilitating terrorism. Momim Khawaja, 29, was the first person charged under Canadian anti-terrorism laws passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S., and his case was considered the first major test of those laws. Khawaja was accused of collaborating with a group of Britons of Pakistani descent in a thwarted 2004 plan to attack London’s Ministry of Sound nightclub, a shopping center and electrical and gas facilities.

Officials knew eggs contaminated

The municipal government of the northeastern Chinese port city of Dalian acknowledged Wednesday that officials knew about melamine-tainted eggs produced by China’s leading egg processor, Dalian Hanwei Enterprise Group, for a month before the contamination was disclosed. A brand of eggs was pulled from some stores last week after Hong Kong food safety regulators found excessive levels of melamine in Hanwei’s eggs. Authorities in the eastern city of Hangzhou recalled another company’s eggs, and Hong Kong’s government said tests on eggs from two more processors also found excessive amounts of melamine.

Disabled helped in Agent Orange area

The U.S. and Vietnam launched three new programs to provide job training and health care to disabled people in Danang, where U.S. troops stored and mixed Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. The U.S. sprayed more than 20 million gallons of highly toxic Agent Orange and other herbicides across Vietnam to strip Vietnamese guerrillas of ground cover and kill their crops. Dioxin, a highly toxic element of Agent Orange, remains in soil and sediment for years and is a serious health threat to anyone who touches it.

Treaties allow troop deployment

Russia’s parliament ratified treaties cementing economic and military ties with Georgia’s breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The treaties allow deployment of 3,800 Russian troops in each province.

Pre-flight checks ordered in Europe

Europe’s aviation safety authority has ordered airplane crews to make mandatory pre-flight checks on warning systems for flaps and slats on all DC-9 and MD-80 airplanes. The Cologne, Germany-based European Aviation Safety Agency said the directive was based on information from Spanish officials into what caused a SpanAir passenger jet to crash upon takeoff on Aug. 20, killing 154 people.

COMING UP

> The economy is a major issue ahead of today’s vote to replace Zambia’s late president, with the global financial crisis looming in the background. The main contenders are opposition leader Michael Sata and Rupiah Banda, who served as vice president to Levy Mwanawasa, the popular leader of the southern African nation who died in August after a stroke.