WORLD IN BRIEF: Official tries to shift blame

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem suggested Wednesday that Israeli bombs might be the source of uranium traces diplomats at the U.N. nuclear agency have said were found at a suspected Syrian nuclear site. “No one has ever asked himself what kind of Israeli bombs had hit the site [in September 2007], and what did they contain?” he said, adding that the United States has used bombs containing depleted uranium in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Israeli Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment.

Missile-defense proposal rejected

News reports Wednesday said the Kremlin has rejected a second set of U.S. proposals offered to assuage increasingly strident Russian criticism of plans for an American missile-defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. Previous U.S. proposals included offers to allow Russia to send observers to monitor the missile defense sites. But Russian and U.S. officials have not publicly disclosed the contents of the latest proposals.

Pirates seize ship; two attacks foiled

Turkish maritime officials said pirates commandeered a Turkish chemical tanker with 14 Turkish personnel aboard Wednesday off the coast of Yemen. The Karagol, bound for India, was carrying 4,500 tons of unspecified chemicals. On Tuesday, Russian and British forces repelled a pirate attack on a Danish cargo vessel off Somalia in the first action by a Russian warship sent to bolster international forces fighting a plague of hijackings in coastal waters vital to global commerce. Separately, Indian commandos from the Indian warship INS Tabar foiled similar attacks on a Saudi Arabian chemical tanker and an Indian vessel.

Threat made to close border

North Korea’s military announced it will shut the country’s border with the South on Dec. 1 —- a marked escalation of threats against Seoul’s new conservative government. The North also said it will allow U.S. nuclear inspectors to review documents and interview engineers at its main nuclear complex in Yongbyon, but will bar them from taking soil and nuclear waste samples —- considered critical to weapons program monitoring.

Militia captures second major port

A Somali Islamist militia seized a key port town Wednesday, giving it control of most of southern Somalia and sidelining the weak government. The capture of Merka, 56 miles from the capital, Mogadishu, means the hardline al-Shabab militia now holds both major ports with airstrips south of the capital.

Success claimed in missile test

Iran said Wednesday it had successfully test-fired a new generation of long range surface-to-surface missiles with a range of 1,200 miles. A senior official said the Sajjil missiles would be used only defensively, but did not identify a potential aggressor.

Fierce skirmish endangers truce

Israeli troops and Palestinian militants fought with missiles and mortars along the Gaza-Israel border on Wednesday, raising new concerns that an increasingly shaky five-month-old truce might collapse. Four Hamas militants were killed in the exchange, and the Hamas military wing said it would retaliate.

Attorney barred from trip for award

Saudi Arabia’s government has banned a crusading defense attorney from traveling abroad to receive an award for his work. New York-based Human Rights Watch said Abdul-Rahman al-Lahem had been scheduled to be honored Tuesday with the 2008 Human Rights Defenders Award for his fight for the rights of Saudi citizens against arbitrary and unjust rulings. He gained worldwide attention for defending the “Girl from Qatif,” who had faced prison and 200 lashes for being alone in a car with a man she was not related or married to when the two were attacked and raped by seven men. She eventually was pardoned by Saudi King Abdullah, who has pushed for judicial reform in the kingdom.

Bones not part of lurid crimes

Police investigating claims of abuse at the now-closed Haut de la Garenne children’s home on the British Channel Island of Jersey between England and France say bones found there recently were centuries old and an alleged skull fragment may actually be a Victorian-era coconut. After the lurid-sounding discoveries earlier this year, media from around the world descended on the tranquil island to write about the horrors. But on Wednesday, Jersey police said the horrors had been exaggerated. Although police believe crimes did take place at the home, which closed in 1986, they now say there is nothing to back up the grisly scenario of burned and scarred remains of children outlined by former deputy Police Chief Lenny Harper, who retired in August.

At least 5 hurt in school collapse

A school partly collapsed in Haiti’s capital on Wednesday, injuring at least five students less than a week after the collapse of another school killed 89 people. Portions of the Grace Divine school in Port-au-Prince came crashing down while class was in session, but no one was trapped and there were no deaths.