WORLD IN BRIEF: Nuclear trade may widen

The Bush administration moved Thursday to sign a nuclear cooperation agreement with the United Arab Emirates. The first nuclear agreement reached with a Mideast nation would lay the legal groundwork for U.S. commercial nuclear trade with the U.A.E., which has foresworn nuclear arms as a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. But despite the emirates’ status as a key U.S. partner in the Mideast, some in Congress say the U.A.E. has done too little to help stem the illicit flow of nuclear supplies to its Persian Gulf neighbor, Iran.

Scores arrested in rampage probe

Pakistan has arrested 71 people in a crackdown on groups allegedly linked to the Mumbai, India, attacks, officials said Thursday. But Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik dodged a question on whether he was conceding that the plot —- which killed 164 people in India’s commercial capital and raised tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals —- was hatched on Pakistani soil. The Interior Ministry said 71 leaders of the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba and its charity front Jamaat-ud-Dawa were being held and 124 others were under surveillance.

Conflicting rumors predict successor

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has named his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, who is in his mid-20s, to succeed him as head of the Stalinist nation, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said Thursday. The North’s powerful Workers’ Party was informed about a week ago, the report said. However, Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper, citing unnamed U.S. intelligence sources, reported that Kim’s eldest son, Kim Jong-nam, 38, is expected to serve as nominal head of state on the death of Kim, who turns 67 next month and reportedly suffered a stroke in mid-August.

Militants kidnap Red Cross team

Gunmen abducted three Red Cross workers Thursday in a southern Muslim militant stronghold in the Philippines, prompting a search by U.S.-backed Filipino troops through dense jungles in the country’s worst foreign hostage crisis in nearly eight years. The three representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross from Italy, Switzerland and the Philippines were driving to an airport when motorcycle-riding gunmen intercepted them, the Philippine National Red Cross said.

Wall retrospective begins in Berlin

German Chancellor Angela Merkel chose the archives of the dreaded East German police Thursday to begin nearly a year of commemorations marking the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Berlin Wall. The anniversary itself will be marked with a three-day festival from Nov. 7-9 at the Brandenburg Gate, which lay for years behind the East Berlin side of the wall. Her visit to the archives Thursday fell on the anniversary of the day 19 years ago when East German citizens protested outside the headquarters of the Stasi, or secret police, demanding that its files on nearly all East Germans, including those who informed on their neighbors and coworkers, be made accessible.

Airstrike at pirates hits fishermen

A Russian helicopter attack on Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden earlier this week killed a Yemeni fisherman and wounded three others, Yemeni security officials said Thursday. The fishermen were in two boats nearby when the Russian helicopter fired on pirates in three speedboats trying to hijack a Dutch container ship Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Dutch government agreed Thursday to prosecute five suspected pirates captured this month by the Danish navy off the coast of Somalia, and called on European countries to ensure that all arrested pirates face justice.

Embassy signals ties may thaw

The U.S. Embassy’s top official in Venezuela said Washington will seek improved relations with the government of Hugo Chavez once President-elect Barack Obama takes office. Charge d’Affaires John Caulfield said he told Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro on Thursday that U.S. officials are hoping for “renewed dialogue.” Relations reached a new low Sept. 12, when Chavez evicted the U.S. ambassador and recalled his own ambassador from Washington.

‘Witch’ employed to catch debtors

In these difficult times for creditors, a Lithuanian debt collector is offering an unconventional service to retrieve arrears: witchcraft. The Vilnius-based Skolu Isieskojimo Biuras (debt collecting bureau), has hired Vilija Lobaciuviene, the Baltic nation’s most famous self-styled witch, to hunt down companies and individuals who are failing to pay up. Lobaciuviene, 53, who claims to use hypnosis, herbal medicines and “the bio-energy field,” promised Thursday to “do whatever I can to help people.” But local pundits ridiculed the move. “If they really believe that this woman may help someone get money back, then there’s something very wrong with this country,” columnist Monika Bonckute said.

—- From news services

Islamists grab abandoned bases

The last Ethiopian troops backing Somalia’s fragile government left Mogadishu, the Somali capital, Thursday, as Islamist forces took control of bases the Ethiopians had vacated. An extremist Islamic group said Wednesday it now will focus its attacks on the about 2,400 African Union peacekeepers based in Mogadishu, underscoring fears the country could collapse into even direr chaos.

—- Associated Press