World in brief

Islamic Jihad leader killed by car bomb

A car bomb Friday killed a leader of Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian militant group whose suicide bombers have defied a truce with Israel and killed 34 people in the past year, including an American.

Islamic Jihad blamed Israeli intelligence and vowed to retaliate for the attack, which killed its leader in southern Lebanon, Mahmoud Majzoub, and his brother, Nidal.

In Israel, military officials said they had heard of the bombing in media reports, but had no additional information.

Krakow, Poland

Pope urged to beatify John Paul

Pope Benedict XVI encouraged prayers Friday for the beatification of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, an eagerly awaited remark on a cause close to the hearts of many Poles.

Benedict has referred to John Paul as a great pope, “my beloved predecessor,” and quoted from him extensively, but Poles were awaiting word on the beatification. Some even hoped Benedict would announce it during his four-day Poland tour.

Thousands of people lined the streets as Benedict rode through Krakow’s central old town in his popemobile, giving him a loud and enthusiastic welcome in the city where the Polish-born John Paul served as archbishop before becoming pope.

Outside the archbishop’s residence, where Benedict was spending the night, a crowd of several thousand urged him to come to the window.

“We are waiting, Poland is waiting,” they chanted.

Kabul, Afghanistan

U.S. leads strike on Taliban site

A U.S.-led coalition strike on a militant training facility in Afghanistan’s borderlands with Pakistan killed five suspected extremists, including senior Taliban leaders, the U.S. military said today.

The military said that “key senior leaders of the Taliban network” were among the five dead in the late Friday strike on the site at the remote Qal’a Sak village, in Helmand Province.

No identities or precise numbers of the Taliban leaders killed were released. The military said the Taliban commanders have carried out attacks against coalition and Afghan army forces as well as Afghan officials and civilians.