Afghan leader rejects apology from Petraeus for boys' deaths.(Front)

KABUL, Afghanistan | The American commander in Afghanistan apologized in person to the leadership of the Afghan government on Sunday for the mistaken killing of nine Afghan children in Kunar province on Tuesday, but the Afghan president rejected the apology, according to a statement from the president's spokesman.

Gen. David Petraeus attended the Afghan National Security Council meeting held Sunday and explained that the shooting of the boys, who were 9 to 15 years old, was a mistake and apologized to the Afghan people.

In response, President Hamid Karzai said the apology was insufficient. Civilian casualties worsen the relationship between Afghanistan and the United States, he said, according to the statement.

Beijing

Controls on foreign media are tightened

China's capital further tightened restrictions on reporting by foreign journalists on Sunday, the latest sign of the government's determination to prevent the formation of a Middle East-style protest movement.

The requirement to obtain government permission before any newsgathering in the city center is the latest sign of official jitters sparked by Internet calls for popular protests each Sunday similar to those that have toppled authoritarian leaders in Egypt and Tunisia and continue to roil North Africa and the Middle East.

Despite three decades of economic liberalization , the one-party state brooks no challenge to its rule and routinely harasses and imprisons its critics.

Estonia

Government wins first post-euro vote

TALLINN | Estonia's center-right government was poised to stay in power for a second term after winning a clear parliamentary majority Sunday in the Baltic country's first election as a eurozone member, preliminary results showed.

The outcome was a sign of political stability taking hold in a nation with a 1.3 million population where no previous government had managed to serve a full term since Western-style democracy replaced communism following the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991.

Tokyo

foreign minister quits over donation

Japan's foreign minister suddenly quit for having accepted a political donation from a foreigner - a violation of Japanese law - dealing another blow to the embattled administration of Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

Seiji Maehara, 48, was foreign minister for just six months , and was viewed as a leading candidate to succeed Kan. The government said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano will temporarily double as foreign minister.

Maehara acknowledged receiving $3,000 over the past several years from a 72-year-old Korean woman who has lived most of her life in Japan. He said they had been friends since his childhood.