The World in Brief

Afghan and foreign security forces inspect the site of a suicide attack at the deputy counter narcotic compound in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, July 22, 2014. An Afghan official said that four security guards were killed and six others wounded after a suicide bomber on a motorbike carried out the attack  (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Afghan and foreign security forces inspect the site of a suicide attack at the deputy counter narcotic compound in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, July 22, 2014. An Afghan official said that four security guards were killed and six others wounded after a suicide bomber on a motorbike carried out the attack (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Bomber kills 4 at Kabul police compound

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A Taliban suicide bomber killed at least four foreign security guards Tuesday, steering an explosives-laden motorcycle into an Afghan police compound and passing through multiple checkpoints before reaching an area occupied by trainers from DynCorp International, a U.S. military contractor.

Three of the victims were from Nepal and one was from Peru. All four were guarding the entrance to buildings used by DynCorp within a fortified compound run by the Counter Narcotics Police of Afghanistan when the attacker set off his explosives, said Sayed Mahdi Kazemi, a spokesman for the counternarcotics force.

Seven people were wounded, he said, including an Afghan prosecutor.

Hashmatullah Stanikzai, a spokesman for the police in Kabul, said the attacker went undetected because he was wearing the same uniform as the foreign guards.

The compound is close to Kabul's airport and near the scene of a Taliban assault last week that disrupted flights.

Man wanted in ferry disaster found dead

SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea's most wanted man, a church leader and businessman whom prosecutors had hoped to arrest in connection with an April ferry disaster that killed more than 300 people, has been found dead, police said Tuesday.

The man, Yoo Byung-eun, had been the target of the country's largest manhunt since a court issued an arrest warrant for him in May on charges of embezzlement, breach of trust and tax evasion. Prosecutors sought to arrest him as one of those who had contributed to the sinking of the 6,825-ton ferry Sewol.

They said they had determined that Yoo, 73, was an owner and top manager of Chonghaejin Marine Co., the operator of the ferry. Yoo and members of his family strained the company's finances by taking large sums, forcing it to spend little on the safety training for the ferry's crew, the prosecutors said.

Thai junta enacts temporary constitution

BANGKOK -- Thailand adopted a temporary constitution Tuesday, taking its first step toward the return of electoral democracy after two months of military rule. But the charter's clauses allow the ruling junta to continue to hold substantial power even after an interim Cabinet and legislature take office.

Its enactment of the charter is mostly a formality to carry out previously announced plans for drafting a permanent constitution and forming an interim legislature. The temporary constitution will allow an interim legislature and Cabinet to begin governing the country in September.

The army overthrew the elected government in a May 22 coup, citing the need to end months of political conflict. It has said it hopes to have a new election by October 2015.

Critics have said the army plans to make the permanent constitution less democratic by reducing the power of elected politicians and increasing the number of appointed legislators, with the goal of allowing the conservative, royalist ruling elite to retain power.

The charter gives the junta what amounts to supreme power over political developments.

Cameron: Mutilated girls' parents liable

LONDON -- Parents in Britain who subject their daughters to genital mutilation will be prosecuted, Prime Minister David Cameron announced Tuesday, a day after new research showed that the number of victims of the practice in the country is about twice as high as previously believed.

The announcement, made during the global Girl Summit co-hosted by the British government and the United Nations Children's Fund, heralds tougher legislation that for the first time makes it the parents' responsibility to protect their children. Currently, it is only illegal to perform genital cutting or to take a girl out of the country for that purpose.

Addressing about 500 delegates, including government officials, victims and activists, Cameron said he wanted to stamp out the practice "everywhere for everyone within this generation."

A cultural rather than a religious practice, female genital mutilation mostly occurs in 29 African countries and in parts of Asia and the Middle East. It involves the removal of or injury to the female genital organs for nonmedical reasons, according to the World Health Organization. An estimated 3 million are at risk worldwide every year.

-- COMPILED BY DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE STAFF FROM WIRE REPORTS

A Section on 07/23/2014

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