WORLD briefs

AOSTA, Italy. Pope Benedict underwent minor surgery Friday after the 82-year-old Roman Catholic leader slipped in the bath and broke his right wrist while on holiday in northern Italy.

The Vatican said the operation, the first time the pope had to be treated in hospital since his election in 2005, lasted 20 minutes under local anesthesia and that the pope would have to wear a cast for about a month.

JAKARTA, Indonesia. Suicide bombers posing as guests attacked American luxury hotels in Indonesia's capital and set off a pair of blasts Friday that killed eight people and wounded more than 50.

The bombings, which came two minutes apart, ended a four-year lull in terror attacks in the world's most populous Muslim nation. At least eight Americans were among the wounded.

TEHRAN. In apparent defiance of Iran's supreme leader, a powerful cleric declared his country in crisis after a disputed poll, and tens of thousands of protesters used Friday prayers to stage the biggest show of dissent for weeks.

Clashes erupted later in central Tehran between police and followers of opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi, who still contests the election result that showed hardline President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad had been re-elected by a wide margin.

WASHINGTON. US President Barack Obama on Friday firmly condemned bombings in Jakarta that killed at least nine people and injured dozens more, including eight Americans.

"I strongly condemn the attacks that occurred this morning in Jakarta, and extend my deepest condolences to all of the victims and their loved ones," Obama said in a statement.

URUMQI, China. More than 100 Chinese riot police with shields and wooden sticks lined up directly across the street from a popular mosque during Friday prayers, warning worshippers not to protest again in this western city rocked by the region's worst rioting in decades.

About 1,000 faithful prayed without incident at the Mosque in Urumqi, capital of China's oil-rich north-eastern Xinjiang region.