RIYADH, Saudi Arabia Saudi security officials said Friday they had broken up a terrorist ring, arresting 172 men who planned to blow up oil installations, attack public officials and military posts, and storm a prison to free terror suspects. On a day when the U.S. military announced that three Marines were killed in western Iraq, four Iraqis were detained under suspicion of smuggling bombs from Iran and bringing people to Iran for guerrilla training. In landmark rulings, Japan's highest court on Friday rejected compensation claims filed by former wartime sex slaves and forced laborers from China. Russian lawmakers called for sanctions Friday against Estonia after authorities removed a Soviet World War II memorial, carrying out a plan that provoked street riots and left one man stabbed to death. The unrest followed a decision by the Estonian government to speed up the removal of the 6-foot-tall statue known as the "Bronze Soldier" and exhume the remains of Soviet soldiers buried nearby. Estonia's Russian speakers — roughly a third of the country's 1.3 million people — regard the monument as a tribute to Red Army soldiers who died fighting the Nazis, but many ethnic Estonians see it as a painful reminder of hardships under Soviet rule.
MOGADISHU, Somalia Guns and mortar launchers were silent Friday as residents of Somalia's shattered capital gave mixed reactions to the government's claim of victory after nine days of fierce fighting with Islamic insurgents. It was unclear how long the peace would last, but some residents made a slow return to their homes. Hours after Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi said Thursday the Islamic insurgents were finished, a group of masked gunmen attacked the main hotel where government officials live. The attack lasted about an hour, but there were no reports of casualties.
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