KYAUKTAW, Myanmar

At least 56 reported killed from new ethnic violence

At least 56 people were killed and nearly 2,000 homes destroyed in the latest outbreak of ethnic violence in western Myanmar, a government official said Thursday.

The 25 men and 31 women were reported dead in four Rakhine state townships in violence between the Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya communities that re-erupted Sunday, local government spokesman Win Myaing said.

He said some 1,900 homes had been burned down in fresh conflict, while 60 men and four women were injured.

The United States called for Myanmar authorities to take immediate action to halt the violence.

KABUL, Afghanistan

Man wearing police uniform kills 2 U.S. service members

A man in an Afghan police uniform shot and killed two American service members Thursday.

Such so-called insider attacks have stretched to the breaking point a partnership that U.S. and NATO officials consider a key part of their exit plan — preparing the Afghans to take over responsibility for their country’s security in just over two years. They have also cast major doubts over the program, where Afghans and international troops are supposed to work “shoulder to shoulder.”

In Thursday’s shooting, authorities had yet to determine if the attacker was an Afghan police officer or an insurgent who had donned a uniform to get close to the Americans, said Maj. Lori Hodge, a spokeswoman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The assailant escaped after killing the service members while they were out on a late morning patrol in the southern Uruzgan province, she said.

LONDON

Some 300 potential victims come forward in sex scandal

The scale of the child sex abuse scandal engulfing the BBC expanded Thursday as authorities announced that 300 potential victims had come forward with accusations against one of the broadcaster’s most popular children’s entertainers and that others might have acted with him.

The scandal swirling around one of Britain’s most respected news organizations also prompted a spirited defense from New York Times chairman and publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. of the paper’s incoming CEO, the former top executive of the BBC.

In a letter to staff, Sulzberger said he was satisfied that Mark Thompson, who was the BBC’s director general until last month, had no role in the decision to scrap an investigative segment about the abuse allegations against the late Jimmy Savile.

The well-known children’s TV and radio host is accused of using his fame to coerce teenagers into having sex with him in his car, his camper and even in dressing rooms on BBC premises.

– From news service reports