World datelines

Bangladesh

CHITTAGONG — A truck collided with a bus carrying wedding guests in Bangladesh, killing at least 23 people, police said Thursday.

Britain

LEEDS CASTLE — The leaders of Britain and Ireland appealed Thursday to the Irish Republican Army to disarm and disband as part of a new diplomatic push to bring stable Catholic-Protestant government to Northern Ireland.

LONDON — The British army is going into battle — for a slice of the sneaker market. A new running shoe that bears the force's crossed swords insignia and has the endorsement of army fitness instructors was launched this week in Britain, where it will compete for sportswear profits.

Canada

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Manitoba became the fourth Canadian province to legalize same-sex marriage when a judge on Thursday declared the province's current definition of marriage unconstitutional.

Denmark

COPENHAGEN — After nearly nine years of marriage, Danish Prince Joachim and his Hong Kong-born wife, Princess Alexandra, announced Thursday they have separated and will divorce.

France

PARIS — Employees at the Eiffel Tower ended a strike Thursday that had shut tourists out of the popular Paris attraction for two days.

Germany

MUNICH — Eighty-six-year-old Nazi war crimes suspect Ladislav Niznansky testified Wednesday that he played only a subordinate role in the 1944 capture in Slovakia of U.S. agents and an American war correspondent who were later executed.

Indonesia

JAKARTA — An Indonesian court on Thursday sentenced the editor of the country's leading news magazine to one year in prison for libel in a setback for press freedom in the country.

Israel

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Gunmen briefly abducted a senior Palestinian security officer Thursday in the latest sign of growing anarchy in the Gaza Strip, and supporters of Yasser Arafat staged a mass rally calling for action against vigilantes.

Japan