News in brief

AP - A referendum began Saturday on whether to overturn a Supreme Court ruling that bars Swiss communities from putting citizenship applications to a popular vote.

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AP - Prince William is heading to the azure waters of the Caribbean as part of a two-month deployment in the Royal Navy despite his request to be as close as possible to conflict.

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AFP - Prince William is to patrol for drug smugglers in Caribbean seas during a two-month attachment with the Royal Navy, it said Saturday.

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AP - A suicide bomber blew himself up at a police checkpoint west of Baghdad on Saturday, killing at least 10 people including the local police chief, an official said.

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AFP - French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner arrived in Iraq on Saturday on an unannounced visit to underline the “renewed political commitment of France” to the war-ravaged nation, diplomats said.

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AFP - China on Saturday made final preparations to drain a dangerous “quake lake” in an audacious attempt to avert a disaster that could flood the homes of over a million people.

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AP - A weak tropical storm formed Saturday off the Yucatan Peninsula and quickly made landfall along the border of Belize and Mexico, dumping rain and kicking up surf.

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Reuters - Zimbabwe’s state-owned television said
on Saturday two ruling ZANU-PF party members had been shot dead
by suspected opposition supporters in a rural district that has
been gripped by political violence.

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AP - Chinese authorities prepared on Saturday to drain a swelling lake formed by a devastating earthquake, completing work on a drainage channel to divert water that threatens hundreds of thousands downstream.

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AP - The top official in a town west of Baghdad says 10 people have been killed when a suicide bomber struck a police checkpoint.

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