Iraqi authorities say unidentified gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying employees to the Baghdad airport today (Thursday), killing at least one person and wounding a number of others. Meanwhile, Australia says it is willing to talk to the kidnappers of a Baghdad-based aid worker to secure her release, but will not pay a ransom or change its Iraq policy.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told a Melbourne radio station it was still not clear who abducted Margaret Hassan, head of CARE International's Iraq operations, which are run from Australia.
Diplomats from France, Britain and Germany are expected to meet with Iranian officials today (Thursday) in Vienna to offer Tehran incentives to end its uranium enrichment efforts. Iran is under growing international pressure to give up such plans, amid U.S. suspicions that Tehran is secretly trying to build nuclear weapons.
Rescue crews in China are trying to reach at least 88 workers trapped in a coal mine following an explosion that killed at least 60 other miners. The blast occurred Wednesday in the city of Xinmi in Henan province. A Chinese official says more than 400 miners were in the mine at the time of the explosion. The cause of the blast remains under investigation. The official said the explosion was China's deadliest coal mine accident this year.
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