International

BRUSSELS, Belgium — Desperate to halt the Greek debt crisis that has hammered the euro, fellow eurozone governments tossed it a financial lifeline Sunday, saying they would make C30 billion ($40 billion) in loans available this year alone — if Athens asks for the money.

PRAGUE, Czech Republic — Reaching anew for peace, President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday signed a treaty to shrink their nations’ nuclear arsenals, the biggest such pact between the former Cold War foes in a generation.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Defence Minister Peter MacKay reinforced Ottawa’s dismay with Hamid Karzai’s Taliban musings in face-to-face meetings Thursday with senior members of the Afghan president’s cabinet.

BERLIN — A German meat supplier has found a novel solution to unpaid bills: repossessing the steaks right off diners’ plates.
Police in Aachen said Thursday that a dispute over money ended with the man grabbing his wares off the plates of some 20 bemused guests at a restaurant in the western city.

MONTCOAL, W.Va.—An explosion at a remote coal mine in southern West Virginia with a history of safety problems killed 25 workers, and at least four others still were missing early today more than 1,000 feet underground in the worst U.S. mine disaster since 1984.

MONTCOAL, W.Va. — An explosion at a remote coal mine in southern West Virginia with a history of safety problems killed 25 workers and at least four others were still missing early Tuesday more than a thousand feet underground in the worst U.S. mine disaster since 1984.

LONDON — Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Tuesday declared a national election for May 6 — a bitterly contested race that will be dominated by a recession-wracked economy and a sense that 13 years of Labour rule may be coming to an end.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—Discovery and seven astronauts rocketed into orbit early this morning on one of NASA’s final stockpiling missions to the International Space Station—its take-off flames bringing an early dawn to the coast with this last scheduled shuttle launch in darkness.

MEXICALI, Mexico—Aftershocks rattled the southwest Mexico-U.S. border this morning in the aftermath of a major earthquake that killed two people, blacked out cities, and forced the evacuation of hospitals and nursing homes.

LOS ANGELES — A strong earthquake south of the U.S.-Mexico border Sunday swayed high-rises in downtown Los Angeles and San Diego and was felt across Southern California and Arizona, knocking out power and breaking pipes in some areas but causing no major damage.