RIYADH, Saudi Arabia

Another crown prince dies; brother likely choice as heir

For the second time in less than a year, Saudi Arabia was thrown into the process of naming a new heir to the country’s 88-year-old king following the death Saturday of Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz.

King Abdullah has now outlived two designated successors, despite ailments of his own.

It’s widely expected that the current succession order will stand and Nayef’s brother, Defense Minister Prince Salman – another elderly and ailing son of the country’s founding monarch – will become the No. 2 to the throne of OPEC’s top producer.

But Prince Nayef’s death opens the possibility that a member of the so-called “third generation” of the royal clan – younger and mostly Western educated – will now move into one of the traditional ruler-in-waiting roles.

“Saudi Arabia will have to decide if this is the time to set the next generation on the path to rule,” said Simon Henderson, a Saudi affairs expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

The Allegiance Council, an assembly of sons and grandsons of the first Saudi monarch, King Abdul-Aziz, will choose the crown prince.

BAGHDAD

Two car bombs kill 26, push week’s death toll past 100

Two car bombs in Iraq’s capital killed at least 26 people Saturday on the last day of a Shiite pilgrimage already hit by multiple bombings.

The blasts, one in a heavily guarded area close to a revered shrine, raised the week’s death toll to more than 100 and cast further doubt on the divided government’s ability to secure the country after the American withdrawal.

ACAPULCO, Mexico

Hurricane that killed two downgraded to depression

Carlotta was downgraded to a tropical depression Saturday as the system rapidly weakened after killing two young sisters in its march across southern Mexico.

The National Weather Service’s National Hurricane Center in Miami said Saturday that the government of Mexico had discontinued all watches and warnings for Carlotta, which reached hurricane strength on Friday.

Carlotta on Saturday made landfall near the Mexican beach town of Puerto Escondido in the southernmost part of Oaxaca state. Officials in Pluma Hidalgo said two girls, ages 12 and 7, died when a wall of mud slid over their home.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan

Two bombs kill 33 people in tribal areas of northwest

Two bombs killed 33 people in tribal areas of northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, officials said, a reminder of the instability wracking the nuclear-armed country.

A car bomb hit a crowded bazaar in the town of Landi Kotal in the Khyber region near the Afghan border, government administrator Khalid Mumtaz said.

It killed 26 people and wounded over 50 others.

Later, in the nearby district of Kohat, a bomb hidden in a handcart killed seven people, said police officer Naeem Khan.
 

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