Israel approves hostage swap

After weeks of emotional public speculation and a six-hour Cabinet debate, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government voted 22-3 in favor of a deal that would return two captured Israeli soldiers, who Olmert acknowledged publicly Sunday were probably dead. In return for the men or their bodies, Hezbollah would receive several imprisoned Lebanese militants, the bodies of about a dozen other fighters and the release of a still unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners.

Swedish school confiscates boy's party invitations

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- A school has confiscated an 8-year-old boy's birthday party invitations after they were handed out during class because it said it had a duty to ensure against discrimination.

The boy handed out invitations to classmates at his school in Lund, southern Sweden, but did not invite two boys because they were not his friends, the Sydsvenskan newspaper reported earlier this week.

The school, 360 miles south of Stockholm, confiscated all the invitations, saying it objected because it had a duty to ensure against discrimination.

The report on Friday did not name the boy or his family. It said the boy's father has filed a complaint with the parliamentary ombudsman.

The father told the newspaper that the two classmates were not invited because one had bullied his son and the other had not invited his son to the classmate's birthday party.

"My son has taken it very hard," the father told Sydsvenskan of the school's decision. "It's like taking someone's mail."

The parliamentary ombudsman has asked the school board to decide on the issue before Sept. 8.

South Korea bans rallies against U.S. beef imports

SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korean police refused Sunday to allow more candlelight protests against the resumption of American beef imports, just hours after thousands of demonstrators clashed with riot police in the streets of the capital.

The government said it would not tolerate violent, illegal rallies. Authorities used police buses to encircle a plaza in front of Seoul City Hall -- the main site for weeks of evening rallies -- to prevent protesters from gathering.

Nevertheless, about 1,700 people marched into nearby downtown streets chanting slogans demanding the government of President Lee Myung-bak cancel its decision to lift a ban on U.S. beef.

Thousands of riot police quickly chased them away. There were no immediate reports of serious injuries or clashes.

Jang Dae-hyun, a spokesman for the protest group, said police should cease harsh methods against demonstrators to prevent further violence. "We've been supporting peaceful rallies, but the police crackdown is too harsh," Jang said.

The hard-line stance came hours after about 15,000 people -- some wielding steel pipes and hurling stones at police -- demonstrated in the capital, leaving more than 200 protesters and riot police injured.

The rally turned violent after some protesters used ropes to try to drag away police buses used as barricades to prevent them from marching into the presidential Blue House.

Riot police immediately fired water cannons and sprayed fire extinguishers to repel them. Angry protesters attacked police, while police used clubs and shields against the crowd.

UN official: Afghan civilian deaths up 60 percent

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The number of civilians killed in fighting between insurgents and security forces in Afghanistan has soared by two-thirds in the first half of this year, to almost 700 people, a senior U.N. official said Sunday.

The figures are a grim reminder of how the nearly seven-year war has failed to stabilize the country and suggest that ordinary civilians are bearing a heavy toll, particularly from stepped-up militant attacks.

John Holmes, the world body's humanitarian affairs chief, said the insecurity was making it increasingly difficult to deliver emergency aid to poor Afghans hit by the global food crisis.

"The humanitarian situation is clearly affected and made worse by the ongoing conflict in different parts of the country," Holmes told reporters in Kabul during a multi-day visit.

"Most of those casualties are caused by the insurgents, who seem to have no regard for civilian life, but there are also still significant numbers caused by the international military forces," he said.