MEXICO

At least 18 oil workers were killed and seven others were missing after a Mexican drilling rig hit an oil platform in stormy weather, spilling gas and oil into the Gulf of Mexico, the state-owned oil company said.

Rescuers had pulled 61 workers from storm-tossed waters but had yet to control the leak, said Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex. The company said it was not immediately clear how much had spilled.

The company said 81 workers and five rescue personnel abandoned a subcontractor's Usumacinta drilling rig Tuesday after it hit the Kab 101 light-production platform amid 25-foot waves and winds gusting to 80 mph.

PAKISTAN

Lead investigator quits Bhutto case

The detective leading the investigation of the suicide attack on opposition leader Benazir Bhutto quit the case after she accused him of being involved in the torture of her husband in 1999, a Pakistani official said.

Bhutto said Manzoor Mughal had been present while her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, was tortured in custody on corruption charges.

Ghulam Mohammed Mohtarem, home secretary of Sindh province, said a new team would be formed to investigate the attack in Karachi last week that killed nearly 140 people.

INDIA

23 get life in prison for blasts

A court sentenced 23 people to life in prison for their roles in a series of bomb blasts that killed 58 people in southern India, a news report said.

A total of 70 people were found guilty of involvement in planting 19 bombs that rocked the town of Coimbatore on Feb. 14, 1998, shortly before Hindu nationalist leader Lal Krishna Advani was to address an election rally there.

The 47 others were given prison terms of various lengths.

MYANMAR

A leader of junta is named premier

A top leader of Myanmar's ruling junta, Lt. Gen. Thein Sein, was appointed prime minister, state radio and television reported.

Thein Sein had been serving as acting prime minister since May, filling in for ailing Gen. Soe Win, who died Oct. 12.

From Times Wire Reports