NEW DELHI - About 200 suspected Maoist rebels set off a land mine and opened fire on a convoy of cars carrying local leaders and supporters of India's ruling Congress party in the country's east, killing at least 28 people and wounding 24 others, police said.

Senior police officer M. Gupta said the attack occurred Saturday in the Sukma area, about 215 miles (345 kilometres) south of Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh state.

MANILA, Philippines - At least 14 Philippine marines and Abu Sayyaf militants were killed in a clash in a new U.S.-backed offensive aimed at rescuing six foreign and Filipino hostages and stopping the al-Qaida-linked gunmen from staging more kidnappings in the country's south, a military commander said Sunday.

PARIS - A French soldier was stabbed in the throat in a busy commercial district outside Paris on Saturday, and the government said it was trying to determine if there were any links to the brutal killing of a British soldier by suspected Islamic extremists.

MAKHACHKALA, Russia - A female suicide bomber blew herself up in the southern Russian region of Dagestan on Saturday, injuring at least 18, including two children and five police officers, authorities said. The attacker was later identified as a widow of two Islamic radicals killed by security forces.

KABUL - Artists and activists handed out 10,000 bright pink balloons to residents in Afghanistan's war-weary capital on Saturday, bringing smiles to surprised Kabul residents a day after a major Taliban siege on an international compound in the city.

Each balloon contains a written message of peace from volunteers around the world, said Colombian-American artist Yazmany Arboleda, who organized the "We Believe in Balloons" day.

KABUL - A would-be suicide bomber died when his explosives-rigged vest went off prematurely in Afghanistan's capital on Saturday morning, police said. The apparent failed attack came a day after a major Taliban assault on an international compound in Kabul left 10 people dead including the six attackers.

KABUL - In the latest militant strike on the Afghan capital, Taliban gunmen backed by a suicide car bomber attacked an international aid group's compound on Friday, killing two guards and setting off an hours-long street battle with police in the heart of Kabul .

NIAMEY, Niger - With the help of French special forces, Niger's military on Friday killed the last two jihadists holed up inside a dormitory on the grounds of a military garrison in the desert town of Agadez, and freed at least two soldiers who had been held hostage by the extremists, according to French and Nigerien officials.

TEL AVIV, Israel - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Israel's government on Friday to prevent further settlement construction where possible to help revitalize Middle East peace hopes, but stressed that the Jewish state and Palestinians alike should remain focused on the larger goal of restarting direct negotiations.

NIAMEY, Niger - Suicide bombers in Niger detonated two car bombs simultaneously, one inside a military camp in the city of Agadez and another in the remote town of Arlit at a French-operated uranium mine, killing 26 people and injuring 30, according to officials in Niger and France. A surviving attacker took a group of soldiers hostage, and authorities were attempting to negotiate their release.