World Scene

IRAQ

Security crackdown nets dozens

BAGHDAD — Iraqi police and soldiers rounded up nearly 60 people yesterday in security crackdowns in Baghdad and the southern city of Basra, and the U.S. military reported the death of an American soldier in a bombing.

At least 22 persons were detained and weapons were seized in raids launched before dawn yesterday, the Iraqi army said.

An additional 37 persons — including five Palestinians and a Syrian — were arrested in pre-dawn raids in Baghdad’s Dora district, the Interior Ministry said.

The U.S. command said an American soldier was killed the previous evening in a roadside bombing north of the capital.

PHILIPPINES

66 die in stampede outside stadium

MANILA — A stampede broke out early today outside a stadium near Manila where thousands had lined up to watch a popular game show, and at least 66 persons were trampled to death, an official said.

About 30,000 people were waiting to get inside the stadium to watch the show when the chaos erupted, said Vicente Eusebio, the mayor of Pasig, the Manila suburb where the stampede occurred. He said at least 66 persons died — all but three of them were women.

Dozens of injured people were rushed to hospitals, which quickly became overwhelmed and began using parking lots to accommodate them, Radio DZBB reported.

GEORGIA

Plot to assassinate president foiled

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