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World briefs: 7/14/11

World briefs: 7/14/11

Afghan leader mourns brother

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- President Hamid Karzai climbed into his slain half-brother's grave Wednesday and sobbed alongside the coffin, mourning the loss of the most powerful figure in southern Afghanistan before appointing another brother to take the man's place.

Ahmed Wali Karzai, the head of the Kandahar provincial council and the president's most powerful emissary in the south, was shot to death Tuesday by a trusted friend at his mansion in Kandahar.

Just hours later, a suicide bomb blast killed five French troops in the east of the country.

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The Taliban claimed responsibility for both attacks. But Afghan officials cast doubt that the militants really were behind the killing of the president's brother. The gunman's motive remained unclear.

Chavez may need radiation

CARACAS, Venezuela -- President Hugo Chavez said Wednesday he may need to receive chemotherapy or radiation treatment after undergoing surgery last month in Cuba for an undisclosed form of malignant cancer.

Mr. Chavez, 56, was operated on June 20 to remove a cancerous tumor he said "looked like a baseball" after an initial operation to remove a pelvic abscess on June 11.

Mr. Chavez said Tuesday that he's not preparing a political transition in the event that he isn't able to run for re-election next year and that he expects to deepen his drive to convert Venezuela into a socialist state.

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Dissident accepts Berlin job

BEIJING -- Chinese artist and recently imprisoned dissident Ai Weiwei said Wednesday that he had agreed to become a visiting lecturer at Berlin University of the Arts in 2012, but that he did not know whether China's government would allow him to leave the country to work there.

He said, however, that he was concerned about how the Chinese authorities would react to the offer because "it shows strong support for my moral position."

Caught up in China's broad crackdown on political dissension in the wake of the revolutions in the Middle East this year, Mr. Ai was detained by state security officials in April, held incommunicado this spring and later charged with tax evasion. A hearing on his case is to be held today in Beijing.

Normally a voluble critic of political and social mores, he emerged from confinement last month noticeably thinner and quieter. The rules of his release technically prohibit him from leaving China for one year without permission from the authorities.

Pakistan wary of aid cuts

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan's prime minister expressed concern Wednesday over U.S. plans to suspend around $800 million in military aid to his country, saying it could damage Pakistan's fight against Islamist militants and further endanger the world.

Yousuf Raza Gilani's comments suggest Pakistan's civilian leaders are, at least publicly, more wary of the cuts than the Pakistani army, which operates largely beyond civilian control and has downplayed the aid issue. They also came as Pakistan's spy chief headed to Washington for meetings Wednesday and a top U.S. military commander visited Pakistan.

The U.S.-Pakistan relationship has been on a downward spiral since the May 2 U.S. raid that killed al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani garrison town. Pakistani leaders have protested the unilateral raid by kicking out many American military trainers and asking the U.S. to reduce its footprint in the country.

-- Compiled from news services

First Published: July 14, 2011, 4:00 a.m.

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