World briefs 1/26/06

Pope's first encyclical discusses charity, love, sex

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI said in his first encyclical Wednesday that the Roman Catholic Church has a duty through its charitable work to influence political leaders to ease suffering and promote justice. The document, "God is Love," also warns against sex without unconditional love, which he said risked turning men and women into merchandise. It had been eagerly anticipated because inaugural encyclicals offer clues about a pontiff's major concerns. The 71-page document can be seen as an effort by Benedict to stress the fundamental tenet of the Christian faith -- love -- and assert the church's duty to exercise love through its works of charity in an unjust world.

Iran blames U. S., Britain for bombings in south

TEHRAN, IRAN -- Iran's president on Wednesday blamed "the occupiers of Iraq" -- inferring the United States and Britain -- for two bombings that killed at least nine people in the southwestern city of Ahvaz. The foreign minister said the bombers were supported by the British military, which is based in southern Iraq. Ahvaz has a history of violence involving members of Iran's Arab minority. A spokesman for British Prime Minister Tony Blair's office called the allegations "ludicrous." State television said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issued a decree ordering his foreign minister and intelligence minister to investigate the possibility that "foreign hands" were responsible for Tuesday's blasts inside a bank and outside a state environmental agency building. Forty-six people were wounded, the official Islamic Republic News Agency has reported.

--From wire reports