Briefs: Coral is disappearing
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Coral reefs in much of the Pacific Ocean are dying faster than previously thought, according to a study released Wednesday, with the decline driven by climate change, disease and coastal development. Researchers from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill found that coral coverage in the Indo-Pacific -- an area stretching from Indonesia's Sumatra island to French Polynesia -- dropped 20 percent in the past two decades. About 600 square miles of reefs have disappeared since the 1960s, the study found, and the losses were just as bad in Australia's well-protected Great Barrier Reef as they were in poorly managed marine reserves in the Philippines.
Koreas plan second summit:
SEOUL, South Korea -- North and South Korea announced Wednesday that their leaders will hold their second-ever summit this month, reprising the historic 2000 meeting that launched unprecedented reconciliation between the two longtime foes. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun will meet Aug. 28-30 in Pyongyang, North Korea's capital, South Korean presidential security adviser Baek Jong-chun said.
Trafficking suspect caught:
SAO PAULO, Brazil -- A top leader of Colombia's biggest cocaine cartel was captured Tuesday in South America's largest city after a two-year investigation into traffickers accused of sending tons of the drug to the United States and Europe. Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia, who faces three U.S. federal indictments on drug and racketeering charges, was arrested just after dawn at a house in a gated community on Sao Paulo's outskirts. U.S. officials said they would seek his extradition.
Who fired missile
TBILISI, Georgia -- Georgia's president accused Russia Tuesday of trying to sow panic and influence internal politics in its small southern neighbor after a one-ton missile dropped by a bomber landed near a house. Russia denied its aircraft had fired the missile, which did not explode. Georgia said two Russian Su-24 jets entered Georgia's airspace over the Gori region, about 35 miles northwest of the capital late Monday, and fired a missile that landed 25 yards from a house on the edge of Shavshvebi village. A U.S. official condemned the missile drop but said it was too early to tell who was behind it.
Floods bringing disease:
LUCKNOW, India -- Aid workers scrambled to get food, water and medicine to the millions marooned in flood-hit South Asia following an outbreak of diarrhea and other waterborne diseases in northern India and Bangladesh, officials said Tuesday. At least 376 people have died as a result of recent monsoons and floods in India and Bangladesh. International aid groups warned of an impending health crisis if help does not reach the millions of stranded people.
Pakistan attacks hideouts:
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said Tuesday that talk of U.S. military strikes against al-Qaida in Pakistan only hurts the fight against terrorism, and his troops bombarded militant hideouts in their strongest response yet to a month of anti-government attacks. Ten suspected militants were killed. The assault by artillery and helicopter gunships "knocked out" two compounds in Daygan village in the tribal belt near the border with Afghanistan that were being used as staging posts for attacks on security forces, said Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad, the army's top spokesman. Democratic Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, a presidential candidate, has said that he would use military force in Pakistan if necessary to root out terrorists, prompting angry responses from Pakistani officials.