AVARUA - Beijing denied it was competing with Washington in the Pacific islands, as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived at a regional summit aiming to reassert US influence. In comments that coincided with Clinton's arrival at the forum in the Cook Islands, Deputy Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said China simply wanted to help developing island states. "We are here in this region not to seek any particular influence, still less dominance, we are here to work with other countries to achieve sustainable development." AFP
NEW YORK - A man armed with a Kalashnikov-style automatic rifle and a handgun shot two people at a supermarket in a town near New York, then killed himself, officials said. The attack took place at a Pathmark store in Old Bridge, New Jersey. The killer was 23 and his victims were an 18-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man. All three were employees at the supermarket, which had not yet opened to the public for the day. The shooter finished his night shift then returned with the weapons and started to shoot. About a dozen workers were in the store at the time and most were able to hide. AFP
BERLIN - Lufthansa flight attendants walked off the job at Germany's busiest airport, causing more than 100 flight cancellations, and their union warned of more stoppages to come unless the airline gives in to its demands. Germany's largest airline said it cancelled about 110 short-haul and medium-haul flights from and to Frankfurt airport after some 1,000 cabin crew went on strike. It said a small number of long-haul flights would have to be cancelled as well. AP
