World datelines

Austria: 25,000 attend funeral

VIENNA — Thousands of Austrians packed the southern city of Klagenfurt on Saturday to mourn Joerg Haider, a politician who was denounced as a Nazi sympathizer in the 1990s but had remained hugely popular as a provincial governor.

Haider, 58, had been on the crest of a far-right resurgence in Austrian national politics when he was killed Oct. 11 in a high-speed car crash while drunk at the wheel. About 25,000 turned out in the capital for Haider's funeral on Saturday.

Egypt: Murder trial begins

CAIRO — An Egyptian tycoon and an associate sat side-by-side in metal cage in a packed Cairo courtroom Saturday and denied charges that they orchestrated the murder of a Lebanese pop star famed for her striking green eyes.

Plainclothes policemen surrounded billionaire Hisham Talaat Moustafa and Mohsen el-Sukkary as they sat separated by a partition in the cage to prevent scuffles since each is expected to blame the other for Suzanne Tamim's killing. Tamim was found stabbed to death in her Dubai apartment in July.

Germany: Chancellor candidate

BERLIN — Germany's center-left Social Democrats on Saturday selected the country's popular foreign minister as their candidate for chancellor as the party embarks on an uphill battle to unseat conservative Angela Merkel.

A special party convention overwhelmingly nominated Frank-Walter Steinmeier to challenge Merkel. Steinmeier, currently Merkel's vice chancellor, ran unopposed.

Jamaica: Attacker shot, killed

KINGSTON — Police in Jamaica say they shot and killed a man who attacked a pastor with a machete in the middle of a morning service.

Authorities say 43-year-old Ricardo Taylor slashed the ear of a Brazilian pastor before fleeing. He was later arrested and taken to a nearby precinct. Police say that Taylor then tried to attack an officer with a knife and was shot. Authorities said in a statement Saturday that they took Taylor to a hospital, where he died.

Russia: Rebels ambush convoy

ROSTOV-ON-DON — At least two Russian soldiers were killed and 10 others were wounded Saturday when rebels ambushed a military convoy in a volatile Russian province near Chechnya, officials said.