Alliance wants withdrawal date

Astana, Kazakhstan A regional alliance led by China and Russia called Tuesday for the United States and its allies in Afghanistan to set a date for withdrawing from several states in Central Asia, reflecting growing unease at America’s military presence in the region.

The move by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which includes Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, appeared to be an attempt to push the United States out of a region that Moscow regards as historically part of its sphere of influence and in which China seeks a dominant role because of its extensive energy resources.

The United States rejected the call for a deadline.

Shipments of food to Somalia halted

United Nations The World Food Program suspended relief shipments to Somalia after pirates seized a ship carrying aid for tsunami victims, a U.N. spokesman said Tuesday.

Somali gunmen boarded the ship on Monday and took the crew of 10 hostage. The ship was carrying about two months of food aid for the 28,000 tsunami victims in Somalia.

The World Food Program will review the suspension after the release of the crew, ship and food aid.

Volcanic explosion spews ash in Mexico

Guadalajara, Mexico An explosion inside the smoldering summit of western Mexico’s Volcano of Fire sent ash and gases nearly three miles into the air late Tuesday, but did not cause any immediate evacuations.

Seismologists say the increasing frequency of eruptions and their intensity are signs that the volcano is returning to an explosive stage like one that started in 1903. In that era, the eruptions climaxed with a massive explosion in 1913.

Islamic militants sentenced to die

Rabat, Morocco Two men arrested in a sweep to dismantle militant Islamic networks following suicide bombings in Casablanca have been sentenced to death, judicial officials said Tuesday.

Taoufik Hanouichi and Mohcine Bouarfa, accused of leading a terror cell in Morocco, were convicted Monday for being complicit to “murder in connection with a terrorist group,” justice officials said. The two men were unlikely to be executed, as the North African nation has had a de facto moratorium on the death penalty since 1993.

Pope will say prayers in Hebrew

Vatican City

German-born Pope Benedict XVI will say prayers in Hebrew when he visits the synagogue in Cologne, Germany, that was destroyed by the Nazis, a cardinal organizing the trip said Tuesday.

Jewish representatives invited the pope to visit while he is in Germany in August for the Roman Catholic Church’s World Youth Day.