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MEXICO

Ex-officers seize government building

CUERNAVACA - About 50 former state policemen barricaded themselves inside a government building Thursday in Cuernavaca, a city 35 miles south of the capital, to demand their jobs back. They placed potted plants and metal barricades in the building's entrances and prevented about 1,500 city employees from going to work in the facility, officials said. State officials said they would not give the men their jobs back and would take legal action against them for any damage that might be done. The officers were among about 90 who were fired as a cost-reduction measure in June. ISRAEL

Sharon takes risk

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon offered a powerful ultra-Orthodox Jewish party a place in his ruling coalition Thursday, his latest attempt to shore up a government weakened by his plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip. But the appeal has angered secular parties and could trigger a political upheaval that would leave the future of Sharon and his pullout plan in doubt. By inviting the Shas Party and another ultra-Orthodox faction into his shaky coalition, Sharon risks alienating both the moderate opposition Labor Party and the secular Shinui Party - which strongly support the Gaza withdrawal. Sharon called Shas leader Eli Yishai on Thursday and invited the party to begin coalition negotiations next week, and Yishai agreed, said a statement from Sharon's office. INDIA

Regional flood toll reaches 374

NEW DELHI - Twenty-five people drowned when a homemade boat capsized in a rain-swollen Indian river on Thursday, and another 10 died in their homes, raising the death toll from South Asian flooding to 374. The toll in South Asia - Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and India - included 13 newly reported deaths in Bangladesh. Elsewhere, five deaths were confirmed in northern Japan on Thursday, raising the number killed from heavy rains there to 11. The annual South Asia flooding, which is fed by melting snow and torrential rains, has left millions in dire need, as waters have washed away homes, roads, crops and telephone lines. In India, where 232 have died since mid-June, a boat carrying 50 people flipped and sank Thursday in the Bagmati River in eastern India, where monsoon rains have wreaked havoc for weeks. GERMANY

Oh, you wanted the needles taken out?

A German acupuncture patient was left pierced with needles in a clinic after a therapist forgot about her, locked up his practice and went home, police in Hanover said Thursday. The 41-year-old woman from the north German town had booked an afternoon session of the ancient Chinese therapy, which involves inserting needles into the skin and is believed to prevent disease and relieve pain. The doctor left her in the treatment room for what she assumed would be a short while, especially since she still had needles embedded in her body. After 90 minutes, she alerted police by phone and was later set free when the doctor returned. DENMARK

Teen booted from U.S. will come home

COPENHAGEN - A 16-year-old Danish girl who was forced to leave her parents and sisters in the United States because of a quirk in U.S. immigration law will be allowed to return home to Florida. Helene Jensen could return from Denmark as soon as next week under the humanitarian parole she received, her father, John Jensen, said Wednesday. "It's a great gift that we have people that have taken a great interest in this to help us bring her home," John Jensen said. Helene and her parents had lived in the United States since 1997 under John Jensen's work visa. The visa expired in March, so an older American-born daughter sponsored Helene's father and mother in their application to become permanent residents. But Helene, who was born in Denmark, is neither a spouse, parent or child of her sponsoring sister. So under immigration law, she faced a 6- to 7-year wait to become legal.