SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — Prime Minister John Howard on Sunday called general elections in Australia for Nov. 24, cautioning voters about his opponent’s plans for a withdrawal from Iraq and reminding them he has overseen the country’s long economic boom.
Howard, one of Washington’s staunchest allies in Iraq and the war on terrorism, is seeking a fifth term and hoping to save his reputation from the judgment that he should have quit while he was ahead.
Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd, a Chinese-speaking former diplomat 18 years Howard’s junior, has held a commanding lead in opinion polls since December over the prime minister, 68, whom he claims is out of touch after more than 11 years in power.
Flood sweeps away tour group in Thai cave
BANGKOK, THAILAND — Six Western tourists and two Thai guides died after flash floods swept them away while they were exploring a cave at a southern Thai national park, police said Sunday. At least one tourist survived.
The group was trekking through the Khao Sok national park in Surathani province late Saturday afternoon when heavy rainfall caused flash floods that sent water surging through the cave, which was near a waterfall.
The tourists who died were three Swiss women, a Swiss man, a British man and a German boy, police Lt. Col. Pichan Kanayasiri said.
Police impostors kidnap 18
ACAPULCO, MEXICO — Armed men disguised as federal agents kidnapped 18 people in coastal Mexico, and five of them were still missing Sunday, state police said.
Carrying Kalashnikov assault rifles, about 10 men dressed in clothing with the logo of Mexico’s Federal Agency of Investigation entered the town of Pueblo Viejo and asked about packages that had been thrown from an aircraft, Guerrero state police said in a statement. The men then drove off with 18 residents, including a 9-year-old boy.
Police intercepted the convoy on the road but let it continue after one of the men said he was a federal intelligence agent and claimed to have an arrest warrant for the victims. Police later learned there were no warrants.
Denver Post wire services
