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In the World

Three astronauts back from station

ALMATY, Kazakhstan - A Soyuz space capsule carrying two Russians and an American touched down safely Friday on the sweeping steppes of central Kazakhstan, ending the men's 163-day stay on the International Space Station.

Anton Shkaplerov, Anatoly Ivanishin, and NASA's Daniel Burbank returned to Earth as the Russian-made module landed on schedule at a remote site north of Arkalyk. - AP

Denmark nabs 3; terror plot alleged

COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Three men have been arrested in Copenhagen on suspicion of plotting a terror attack after police found them with automatic weapons and ammunition, Denmark's intelligence service said Friday.

The Security and Intelligence Service, or PET, said the men were arrested in the Danish capital in connection with an ongoing investigation. The agency described them as a 22-year-old citizen of Jordan, a 23-year-old Turk living in Denmark, and a 21-year-old Danish national who lives in Egypt.

The agency has repeatedly warned that Denmark remains in the cross-hairs of Islamic terrorists since the 2005 publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad that triggered riots in many Muslim countries. - AP

S. Sudan camp's conditions dire

NAIROBI, Kenya - Tens of thousands of refugees in South Sudan's Jamam camp must be urgently moved to a new site to escape life-threatening water shortages and fatal diseases, an aid agency said Friday.

The boreholes that provide the water for the camp in South Sudan's Upper Nile state can only serve 16,500 of the 37,000 refugees there, said Oxfam spokesman Alun McDonald. Relief agencies also expect more refugees fleeing the recent South Sudan and Sudan border conflict will be taking up residence in Jamam, he said. This week, Sudan repeatedly bombed South Sudan. The U.N. said 16 civilians were killed.

"We are fast running out of time and options," said Pauline Ballaman, head of Oxfam's Jamam operations. - AP

Islamists resume rally in Egypt

CAIRO - Several thousand Islamists rallied in Tahrir Square for the third Friday running, calling for a fair and transparent presidential election among other democratic demands that remain unfulfilled since last year's toppling of President Hosni Mubarak.

Most of those at the march - dubbed "Protecting the Revolution" - were from the Muslim Brotherhood, the nation's most potent political force. They were joined by supporters of ultraconservative Salafi lawyer Hazem Abu Ismail, who was disqualified from the presidential race last week amid revelations that his mother became a U.S. citizen before she died.

Demonstrators chanted against the ruling military council and condemned the Supreme Electoral Committee for its decision to allow Ahmed Shafiq, a Mubarak-era prime minister, to run in next month's presidential poll. - L.A. Times