The world in brief

LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY

“We can no longer continue to live like we are in a jungle, as if we are in a state without authority. Too many Guineans have perished and suffered.”

Gen. Sekouba Konate,

the leader of junta ruled Guinea, a day before the country’s first democratic presidential election Article, 1A

U.S. missiles hit compound, kill 3

MIR ALI, Pakistan - Suspected U.S. missiles struck a militant compound in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, killing at least three people in an area teeming with Taliban and al-Qaida fighters who often launch attacks against NATO troops in Afghanistan, said Pakistani officials.

It was the second strike in as many days in North Waziristan, a mountainous area along the Afghan border.

The compound hit Sunday was in the village of Tabbi Tolkhel, a little more than a mile northeast of Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan, said Noor Ahmed, the deputy political leader in the area.

There were conflicting reports about how many people were killed in the attack.

Ahmed said tribesmen have recovered five bodies from the rubble. He did not know their identities.

Two Pakistani intelligence officials said three militants were killed and five others were wounded.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to media.

N. Korea rejects talks on sinking

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea said Sunday that it has rejected a proposal by the American-led U.N.

Command to hold military talks on the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on Pyongyang.

The U.N. Command, which oversees the armistice that ended the three year Korean War in 1953, has launched an investigation of the sinking.

A separate team of international investigators concluded last month that North Korea torpedoed the warship Cheonan near the tense Korean sea border.

North Korea denied the allegation and has warned that any punishment would trigger war.

Details of the U.N. Command’s probe have not been released.

Pope slams raids in abuse inquiry

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI lashed out Sunday at what he called the “deplorable” raids carried out by Belgian police who detained bishops, confiscated computers, opened a crypt and took church documents as part of an investigation into priestly sex abuse.

Benedict issued a message of solidarity to the head of the Belgian bishops’ conference and other bishops who were detained in the Thursday raid.

He said justice must take its course but also asserted the right of the Catholic Church to investigate clerical abuse alongside civil law enforcement authorities.

The pope’s message to Monsignor Andre Joseph Leonard was the first time he himself had commented on the raids. On Saturday, the No. 2 Vatican official said the raids were unprecedented even under communism.

Belgium’s justice minister defended the searches Sunday, saying the bishops were treated normally and the warrant was fully legitimate.