In the World

MOSCOW - The trial of three men accused of murdering Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya in 2006 was adjourned yesterday for 10 days, adding to growing doubts about the transparency and fairness of one of Russia's highest-profile cases.

The judge in the case cited a defense lawyer's scheduling conflicts as the reason for the adjournment, even though the lawyer said there weren't any.

On Monday, Judge Yevgeny Zubov ruled that proceedings should be open to the media, after pleas from relatives and rights groups hoping that public scrutiny would yield new information. The court reversed the decision Wednesday, saying jurors feared the publicity would put them at risk.

Juror Yevgeny Kolesov said jury members had discussed the issue but had not asked the court to bar the media. "The initiative didn't come from us," he told Ekho Moskvy radio yesterday.

- AP

GOMA, Congo - The U.N. Security Council agreed yesterday to send 3,100 more peacekeeping troops to Congo, while rebels said they remained committed to a pullback from the front lines despite an army attack.

There are now 17,000 peacekeepers in the vast Central African nation - the world's largest U.N. peacekeeping mission - but they have been unable to stop the fighting. Yesterday, rebels said they had fended off an attack from the army, pro-government Mai Mai militias, and Rwandan Hutu insurgents.

Rebel spokesman Bertrand Bisimwa said rebel troops had been attacked in Katoro, a village near Kiwanja, about 45 miles north of Goma. The reported attack came a day after the United Nations confirmed that hundreds of rebel forces had pulled back from three front lines in eastern Congo.

- AP

BANGKOK, Thailand - A predawn grenade attack on protesters occupying the offices of Thailand's prime minister killed one person and wounded 29 yesterday, dimming hopes that the country's fractious political crisis might ease.

No one took responsibility for the blast, but the protest group, which calls itself the People's Alliance for Democracy, blamed the government. The prime minister denied the accusation.

The alliance, which is seeking the government's resignation, said it would stage a mass rally before marching to parliament Sunday to protest the attack. When the group marched on parliament Oct. 7, street battles with police left two dead and hundreds wounded.

- AP

Archaeologists have discovered

the ruins of a 6,500-year-old farming settlement in central Greece, the Culture Ministry said yesterday. The Neolithic-era remains were found during work to lay a gas pipeline near the village of Vassili in Thessaly.

At least 26 malnourished

children have died in recent days in Haiti, and aid groups fear many more deaths unless help comes quickly. At least 65 other children have been treated on site or evacuated to hospitals, said Max Cosci, who heads a Doctors Without Borders group in Haiti.