World Scene

KYRGYZSTAN

Outgoing leader: Fate of U.S. base uncertain

BISHKEK — Kyrgyzstan’s outgoing president said Tuesday a decision on whether to allow a U.S. air base to remain in the country after its lease ends in 2014 depends on developments in nearby Afghanistan.

Roza Otunbayeva favors turning the Manas base at the capital’s main airport into a civilian aviation facility but conceded that drug trafficking poses a security threat to Kyrgyzstan. The United States has used the base as a key logistical hub for military operations in Afghanistan since 2001.

Mrs. Otunbayeva’s successor, Almaz Atambayev, who will take power Thursday, has said the base should be closed.

SYRIA

Turkey considers Iraq as alternative trade route

BEIRUT — Pressure mounted against President Bashar Assad’s regime on Tuesday, as Turkey said it could use Iraq as an alternative trade route.

That would cut out Syria entirely, as Damascus faces broad economic sanctions over its deadly crackdown on an 8-month-old uprising. Activists said security forces killed at least 11 Syrians on Tuesday.

Syria has been a main transit route for Middle East trade, which Damascus hopes will help cushion the effects of tough new sanctions from the Arab League and Turkey.

RUSSIA

Medvedev: New radar shows Russia’s might

MOSCOW — President Dmitry Medvedev commissioned a new military early warning radar Tuesday, saying it shows Russia’s readiness to respond to U.S. missile defense plans.

Russia sees the U.S. missile defense plans in Europe as a security challenge, but Washington has said they are aimed at a potential Iranian missile threat.

CHINA

New aircraft carrier starts second trial

BEIJING — China’s first aircraft carrier began its second sea trial on Tuesday after undergoing refurbishments and testing.

The 990-foot ship, a refitted former Soviet carrier, underwent five days of trials in August that sparked international concern about China’s widening naval reach. Beijing insists that the carrier will be used mainly for training and research.

NORWAY

Killer found insane, unfit for prison

OSLO — Confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik belongs in psychiatric care not prison, prosecutors said Tuesday after a mental evaluation declared him legally insane during a bombing-and-shooting rampage that killed 77 people.

The court-ordered assessment found that the anti-Muslim militant was psychotic during the July 22 attacks, which would make him mentally unfit to be convicted and imprisoned for the country’s worst peacetime massacre.

A forensic panel will review the report before the Oslo district court rules on his mental state.

CHILE

Judge charges ex-U.S. Navy officer

SANTIAGO — A judge investigating abuses during the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet has charged a former U.S. military officer in the 1973 killing of two Americans and is seeking his extradition, court officials said Tuesday.

Former Navy Capt. Ray E. Davis has been charged with murder in the killings of journalist Charles Horman and U.S. student Frank Teruggi, a court statement said. Also charged with murder was a retired Chilean army brigadier, Pedro Espinoza Bravo.

CHINA

Beijing to ordain Vatican-vetted bishop

BEIJING — China plans to ordain a pope-approved bishop Wednesday, but the Vatican and the Chinese government-controlled Catholic Church are fighting over the guest list.

The ordination of Peter Luo Xuegang as co-adjutor bishop of Yibin diocese has the blessing of the Vatican, locked in its decades-long rift with the state-backed church.

The latest source of friction is the possible presence of an excommunicated Chinese bishop at the ceremony. AsiaNews, which closely covers the church in China, reported that the former bishop, Paul Lei Shiyin, is almost certain to attend the ceremony.