World datelines

Bulgaria

SOFIA — Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday confirmed the identity of a decapitated body found in Iraq's Tigris River as that of a second Bulgarian truck driver taken hostage by al-Qaida-linked militants. The ministry, citing DNA analysis, issued a statement saying the body found July 22 in the Tigris River was that of Ivaylo Kepov.

China

BEIJING — Villagers camped outdoors and hospitals were jammed Wednesday after a strong earthquake shook China's southwest, killing up to three people and injuring as many as 600, officials and state media said. Some 92 aftershocks have been felt since the magnitude-5.6 quake struck Ludian County in earthquake-prone Yunnan province Tuesday evening, a county official, Shi Zaiqing, said by telephone.

England

LONDON — Evidence obtained by other governments through torture could be used to detain terrorist suspects indefinitely in Britain, the Court of Appeal ruled Wednesday. The case was brought by eight foreign terrorist suspects who claim they had been locked up by British authorities without charge or trial based on information obtained through the torture of suspects at U.S. detention camps such as Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, or at Bagram air base in Afghanistan.

Iran

TEHRAN — Iran is ready to "pay the price" for pursuing a peaceful nuclear program, even if that means being brought before the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions, President Mohammad Khatami said Wednesday. At the same time, Iran successfully test fired a new version of its ballistic Shahab-3 missile, which already was capable of reaching U.S. forces in the Middle East and since has been upgraded in response to Israeli missile development. The Shahab-3 can carry a nuclear warhead.

Israel

KALANDIA CHECKPOINT, West Bank — A West Bank assailant detonated a large bomb near a busy Israeli military checkpoint Wednesday, killing two Palestinian men and wounding 16 people, mostly civilians, in an attack that prompted rare Palestinian complaints about militants responsible for scores of bombings over the past four years. The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent group that has carried out scores of attacks on Israelis, claimed responsibility for the attack, but apologized for the Palestinian casualties. The 16 wounded included 10 Palestinians and six Israeli border policemen.

Mauritania