World Briefs

Iran is preparing a package of proposals to present to Western powers that could be a basis for future talks, the country's foreign minister said yesterday. Manouchehr Mottaki told a news conference that the package deals with political and economic issues as well as security and international affairs, but did not say whether its proposals also covered Iran's nuclear activities. The U.S. and its European allies want to draw Iran back into negotiations over its nuclear program. (AP)

A car bomb exploded in an alley yesterday in a village in northern Iraq, killing at least four people, wounding 38 others and destroying eight homes, police said. Most of the victims were inside their homes when the bomb exploded near the main street of the predominantly Shi'ite village, about five kilometers (three miles) east of the city of Mosul. Violence remains at low levels compared with previous years, but bombings continue to kill scores. (AP)

China released a breakdown yesterday of the death toll from communal rioting, saying most of the 184 killed were from the Han Chinese majority - an announcement that only fueled suspicion among Muslim Uighurs that many more of their people died. Uighurs on the streets of the Xinjiang capital, Urumqi, and from exile activist groups disputed the new figures, citing persistent rumors that security forces fired on Uighurs during Sunday's protest and in following days. Dispelling such suspicions has become another challenge for the government as it tries to calm the troubled region. (AP)

Foreign Secretary David Miliband defended Britain's role in Afghanistan yesterday after fighting claimed eight soldiers' lives in 24 hours. The deaths pushed Britain's overall toll in Afghanistan to 184 - five more than the total British deaths in the Iraq war. Britain's influential media placed the news on the front pages, inevitably increasing pressure on the government both to explain the mission and to say whether it is giving the military the support it needs to fight the war. Miliband told the BBC that Britain would not be safe until it had built security in Afghanistan. (AP)

Michael Jackson's mother and ex-wife will have time to reach an agreement over who will take care of the singer's three children. For the second time, Katherine Jackson and Deborah Rowe joined to seek a delay in a hearing that could decide who gets custody of the pop superstar's children. The two sides are trying to broker an out-of-court settlement. A guardianship hearing scheduled for today has been delayed for a week, an attorney said Friday. Katherine Jackson will remain the temporary guardian of her son's three children. (AP)