WORLD News of the Day From Across the Globe - - San Francisco Chronicle

1 Presidential threat: Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir threatened Wednesday to topple his rival government to the south, harsh words that could escalate the conflict between the two nations as they intensify clashes over their shared border. El-Bashir vowed to "liberate" the people of South Sudan, saying it was his country's duty to them. South Sudan broke away from Sudan in July after decades of civil war, creating the world's newest country. But the two never agreed on how to share the oil wealth found in the region between the countries, and the border was never fully demarcated.

2 Bounty challenge: Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the Pakistani Islamist leader on whom the United States placed a $10 million bounty earlier this month, filed a court challenge Wednesday demanding that the Pakistani government provide him security and pressure Washington to lift the reward for his capture. Washington accuses Saeed, a free man in Pakistan who travels openly around the country, of founding the banned extremist group Lashkar-e-Taiba and of maintaining links to al Qaeda.

3 India launches missile: India test-launched a new nuclear-capable missile Thursday that would give it, for the first time, the capability of striking the major Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai, according to television news channels. The government has hailed the Agni-V missile, with a range of 3,100 miles, as a major boost to its efforts to counter China's regional dominance and become an Asian power in its own right. Indian media reported the missile was launched just after 8 a.m. local time from Wheeler Island off India's east coast.

4 Jerusalem eviction: Israeli police evicted Palestinian families Wednesday from two homes in East Jerusalem, clearing the way for Jewish residents to take over and creating a potential new flash point in the city's long-running battle for control over disputed neighborhoods. The evictions of about 13 Palestinians, who last month lost their court case to retain the property, gives Jewish settlement groups their first foothold in the vast neighborhood of Beit Hanina, one of the holy city's largest Arab communities.

5 Land dispute: Activists and officials say thousands of Honduran farmworkers have seized 30,000 acres of land around the country as part of a dispute with large landowners and the government. The farmers' group Via Campesina says the seized territory is arable public land that small farmers have the right to work under Honduran law. A land dispute between small farmers and landlords in the northern Aguan Valley has led to dozens of deaths among farmworkers in recent years.

6 Volcano rumbles: Mexico's 17,886-foot Popocatepetl volcano southeast of Mexico City is continuing to spout gases and hot rock fragments and it is dusting towns on its flanks with volcanic ash. Although the volcano alert level remains high, no evacuations are planned at present.

7 Unprecedented apology: "I am very sorry. I made a mistake. It will not happen again," Spain's King Juan Carlos told journalists Wednesday in an unprecedented apology to the nation. The 74-year-old monarch was asking forgiveness for going elephant hunting in Africa while his country was in the grip of a deep economic crisis. The apology, which Spanish media described as being highly unusual among European royalty, reflected the outrage sparked by the king's hunting trip.

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