BEIJING -- At least five people have been killed and 14 wounded during days of protests by ethnic Han demanding a government clampdown on Uighurs in the capital of the restive western region of Xinjiang, according to the state news agency, which quoted the city's deputy mayor.

The deputy mayor, Zhang Hong, gave the casualty toll at a news conference late yesterday night in Urumqi, the regional capital.

Urumqi remained paralyzed yesterday as Han protesters continued to rally in parts of the city to call for greater security measures against alleged Uighur attacks, forcing the government to close schools, offices and shops to keep people off the streets and to block traffic from the city center.

Tensions between Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking people who are largely Muslim, and Han have remained high since rioting broke out in early July, in China's worst ethnic violence in decades. At least 197 people were killed and 1,721 wounded, according to the government, and most of the dead were Han.

WASHINGTON -- In a victory for Boeing Co., the World Trade Organization sided with the American aviation giant yesterday in finding that European countries had provided billions in illegal subsidies to chief competitor Airbus.

The preliminary ruling by the Geneva-based WTO, although expected to be challenged by the European Union, could begin to shake up the $3.2 trillion global market in new jetliners, in which Airbus has overtaken Boeing. The next shoe to drop will be a decision that may well go the other way: The international trade body will rule next year in an Airbus challenge to what it sees as unfair U.S. government support for Boeing.

Yesterday's decision confirms a complaint by the United States, filed in 2004, that "all Airbus aircraft have received illegal subsidies and that these have caused material harm to Boeing," said Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., among those briefed by U.S. trade officials on the yet-to-be released decision.

MIAMI -- The Cuban government has denied exit permits to about 30 Cuban college students who had been offered U.S. government-funded scholarships for academic programs at American academic institutions.

Not only did the students lose the chance to attend classes for free in the United States, but some also were accused of ideologically losing their way and were expelled from their colleges in Cuba. Those who were members of the Communist Youth Union were booted out, several students said.

This was the first year that Cuban students were included in the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs program, which provides scholarships for students throughout the world to attend American universities.

VIENNA -- Iran accused the U.S. yesterday of using "forged documents" and relying on subterfuge to make its case that Tehran is trying to build a nuclear weapon, according to a confidential letter obtained by The Associated Press.

The eight-page letter -- written by Iran's chief envoy to the U.N. nuclear agency in Vienna -- denounces Washington's allegations against the Islamic Republic as "fabricated, baseless and false." The letter does not specify what documents Iran is alleging were forged.

It also lashes out at Britain and France for "ill will and political motivation" in their dealings on Iran.

Iranian envoy Ali Asghar Soltanieh sent the letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency.