In brief: Syrian rebels’ Golan offensive jolts Israel

QUNEITRA, Golan Heights – Syrian rebels briefly seized control of a border crossing along the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights on Thursday, prompting the withdrawal of a major Austrian peacekeeping contingent and heightening fears in Israel that it could soon be dragged into the neighboring country’s civil war.

From the Israeli side of the Golan, Syrian tanks and armored vehicles could be seen across the border. Large explosions could be heard throughout the day, and thick smoke and flames rose from the area.

Israeli troops along the border were on high alert, although the military said no special actions had been taken in response to the escalation.

By nightfall, the situation appeared to be quieting down. Israel’s deputy defense minister, Danny Danon, said forces remained on high alert, but no special actions had been taken.

The rebels overran the border position near the abandoned town of Quneitra early Thursday, holding their positions for several hours before Syrian government troops retook it. The international peacekeepers who maintain a 40-year-old truce receive most of their supplies through that position from Israel.

Mexico rescues 165 abductees

MEXICO CITY – Mexican soldiers have rescued 165 people kidnapped by a drug cartel and held for as long as three weeks in a one-story home alongside the U.S. border.

National security spokesman Eduardo Sanchez said Thursday that 150 victims were U.S.-bound migrants from Central America. Fourteen were Mexicans and one was from India.

Sanchez said the army rescued the group on Tuesday in Gustavo Diaz Ordaz, a town across the border from McAllen, Texas. He gave no information on which cartel was suspected.

The Zetas cartel is behind most abduction of migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border.

U.K. to compensate mistreated Kenyans

LONDON – The British government Thursday announced compensation for Kenyans abused during a rebellion against colonial rule in the 1950s.

Foreign Secretary William Hague told the House of Commons more than 5,200 Kenyans will be compensated in a package worth nearly $31 million.

Hague said the government recognizes that Kenyans were subject to torture and other ill treatment that the “British government sincerely regrets.” He said the British government understands the pain felt by Kenyans who were involved.

Several thousand now-elderly Kenyans say they were beaten and sexually assaulted by officers acting for the British administration trying to suppress the “Mau Mau” rebellion, during which groups of Kenyans attacked British officials and white farmers who had settled in some of Kenya’s most fertile lands.

The settlements follow a ruling by Britain’s High Court in October that three Kenyans could pursue compensation claims.