Violence sparks fears of extremism

Militants hiding in a vineyard and armed with machine guns ambushed an Afghan army convoy Saturday, shooting dead four soldiers but losing 15 of their own. Violence elsewhere killed another 15 people – including two French troops and a U.S. soldier.

The 34 deaths came amid some of the worst fighting in Afghanistan since the ouster of the Taliban in 2001 and reinforced fears of a resurgence of Islamic extremists.

A 24-hour spasm of violence killed some 120 people earlier this week, before calming briefly. It erupted again Friday with six militants, an Afghan soldier and a civilian killed in Helmand province, the main opium poppy-growing region, where drug profits are believed to fund the insurgency, said Gen. Rehmatullah Raufi, military commander for the south.

Hours later in the same area, insurgents crouching among fields of grapevines and wheat opened fire on a half-mile long convoy of Afghan army trucks as they snaked their way slowly along a dirt road with reinforcements, he said.

The two sides exchanged fire with machine-guns and AK-47 assault rifles for six hours before the insurgents fled on foot and motorbikes, the general said.

When it was over, 15 rebels and four soldiers lay dead, while 13 troops were still missing, an army officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Vatican City

Pope: Canada’s ills found in secularism

Pope Benedict XVI said Saturday that low birth rates in Canada are the result of the “pervasive effects of secularism” and asked the country’s bishops to counter the trend by preaching the truth of Christ.

Benedict, who has spoken out several times in favor of large families, blamed Canada’s low birth rate on social ills and moral ambiguities that result from secular ideology.

“Like many countries … Canada is today suffering from the pervasive effects of secularism,” Benedict told visiting bishops from Canada. “One of the more dramatic symptoms of this mentality, clearly evident in your own region, is the plummeting birth rate.”

Canada’s birth rate in 2005 was 10.5 births for every 1,000 people, according to Statistics Canada.

“Canadians look to you to be men of hope, preaching and teaching with passion the splendor of the truth of Christ who dispels the darkness and illuminates the way to renew ecclesiastical and civic life,” the pontiff told the bishops, speaking in English.

Jakarta, Indonesia

Protesters back anti-porn bill

Tens of thousands of conservative Muslims rallied in the Indonesian capital today in support of a proposed anti-pornography bill that critics say would chip away at the country’s secular traditions.

The protesters, who arrived in buses organized by mosques and conservative Islamic groups, urged parliament to immediately pass the bill, which in its current form would ban kissing in public – as well as erotic poetry, dancing, drawing, writing, photos and film.

Organizers said 1 million people would attend the demonstration. Turnout appeared far less than that, perhaps 25,000, but it was still one of the largest shows of force by conservative Islam in recent years.

Some demonstrators carried banners calling for the imposition of Islamic law in the country, which is home to some 190 million Muslims – more than any other country in the world – but also has significant Christian, Hindu and Buddhist minorities.