DIYARBAKIR (Reuters) – A Turkish soldier was killed in a clash with Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) rebels in southeast Turkey near the border with Iraq on Saturday, security officials said. After the clash in Hakkari province, the army launched a large-scale operation in the area to hunt down PKK militants. Dozens of soldiers have been killed this year in an escalation of separatist violence in the mainly Kurdish southeast, prompting army calls for a raid into northern Iraq to attack rebels based there. The Justice and Development Party government, re-elected last month, has resisted the powerful army’s calls, while still refusing to rule out a move into northern Iraq.

ANKARA (AFP) – Sixteen people, mostly women, were killed on Saturday in a road accident in southeastern Turkey, the Anatolia news agency reported. The accident occurred early in the morning on a road in the province of Sanliurfa when a pickup truck carrying farm workers and their children collided with a lorry, the report said. Fourteen other people were injured. The vehicles overturned with the impact of the crash and came to rest off the road, Anatolia said.

The lifeless body of a man was found in a bear cage yesterday in the Belgrade Zoo, an official said. Zoo employees found the body during a routine check of the cage, which has no roof, Belgrade emergency service doctor Nada Macura said, without giving details. There was no word on how the man might have died. The Belgrade Zoo is located within the ancient Kalemegdan fortress in the city center. A restaurant is located just above the zoo, and thousands have visited the fortress this week for a beer festival. B92 radio speculated the man might have fallen into the bear enclosure during the night. (AP)

A Serbian village, worn out by floods and misfortune, has erected a statue of Rocky Balboa in the hopes of a turn in luck. Zitiste, about 60 kilometers (35 miles) north of Belgrade, late Saturday unveiled a huge monument to actor Sylvester Stallone’s film character in the village square to attract tourists and show a new face to the world. The monument is 3 meters (10 feet) high and made of concrete by a Croatian artist. (AP)