Around the world

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI has approved a document that relaxes restrictions on celebrating the Latin Mass used by the Roman Catholic Church for centuries until the modernizing reforms of the 1960s, the Vatican said Thursday.

Benedict discussed the decision with top officials in a meeting on Wednesday and the document will be published in the next few days, the statement said. The meeting was called to "illustrate the content and the spirit” of the document, which will be sent to all bishops accompanied by a personal letter from the pope.

The decision comes after months of debate. Some cardinals, bishops and Jewish leaders have opposed any change, voicing complaints about everything from the text of the old Mass to concerns that the move will lead to further changes to the reforms approved by 1962-65 Second Vatican Council.

Suicide bomber attacks convoy in Kabul, killing two including an American

KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide car bomber hit a convoy of security contractors in the Afghan capital Thursday, killing an American and a Nepalese citizen and wounding three other Americans, police said. The Taliban claimed responsibility.

Two Afghan civilians were wounded in the attack in eastern Kabul, said Najibullah Samsur, a local police chief.

"There were two foreigner vehicles that passed near my shop and a third private vehicle hit them, causing the explosion,” said Ahmad Shah, whose shop is close to the blast site.

He said the attacker’s vehicle and two of the contractors’ vehicles caught fire after the explosion.

The foreigners from one of the vehicles that was lightly damaged fired their guns into the air to prevent civilians from approaching, Shah said.

Zabiullah Mujaheed, a purported Taliban spokesman, said the militant group was behind the blast.

In the southern province of Zabul, meanwhile, militants beheaded a 15-year-old boy whom they accused of spying for the Afghan government and foreign troops in the country, said Zarif Khan, the chief of New Bahar district. Authorities discovered the victim’s body Wednesday, a day after he was kidnapped, Khan said.

Elsewhere, Taliban militants released 17 Afghan deminers kidnapped last week in Ghazni province, said Kazim Alayar, the province’s deputy governor. Seven were released on Wednesday and 10 on Thursday, he said.

The men disappeared last Friday in Ghazni’s Andar district. They were freed with the help of the local elders, Alayar said.

Afghanistan is one of the world’s most heavily mined countries following three decades of war, and the U.N. and other aid groups are working all over the country to clear old minefields.

———

Associated Press Writer Rahim Faiez contributed to this report.