World datelines

China: AIDS law

BEIJING — China has scrapped a 20-year travel ban that barred people with HIV and AIDS from entering the country just days ahead of the opening of the Shanghai Expo, which hopes to welcome millions of overseas visitors.

China's Cabinet, the State Council, said in a statement posted to its website late Tuesday that the government passed amendments on April 19, revising the Border Quarantine Law as well as China's Law on Control of the Entry and Exit of Aliens.

Norway: Border deal

OSLO — In a surprise move, Norway and Russia agreed Tuesday to evenly divide a long-disputed area in the Barents Sea, a promising oil and gas region in the Arctic made more accessible by global warming.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said only technical details remain to be worked out before a deal can be signed delimiting the border, ending negotiations that have dragged on for decades. Such an agreement would also have to pass the two countries' legislatures.

Afghanistan: Attack

KANDAHAR — The powerful half brother of President Hamid Karzai urged the international aid community not to pull out of the troubled southern city of Kandahar, where insurgents attacked Tuesday night, killing at least three and injuring dozens.

Kandahar Police Chief Sher Mohammed Zazai said militants detonated explosives near the city in an attack targeting a compound providing logistical support to NATO forces. He said at least three people were killed about one mile from Kandahar Air Field.

Iraq: Mortar attack

BAGHDAD — An overnight mortar attack killed two Iraqi soldiers Tuesday at a security station in a Shiite neighborhood of northern Baghdad, police and hospitals officials said.

Another 14 people, including an army colonel, were wounded in the 1 a.m. attack on the joint Iraqi army-police office in the capital's Hurriyah area, the officials said.

Somalia: 14 killed

MOGADISHU — At least 14 civilians were killed Tuesday during a prolonged battle between government soldiers and Islamic insurgents that followed a separate suicide car bomb attack in Somalia's capital, officials and a witness said.