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Sotomayor's confirmation hearing to begin

WASHINGTON, July 13 (UPI) -- Judge Sonia Sotomayor's legal history goes under the microscope in Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings Monday on her U.S. Supreme Court nomination.

While senators from both parties said she likely would be confirmed, Republicans on the panel said they would question Sotomayor's impartiality, The New York Times reported.

Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has dismissed criticism of Sotomayor, saying she is an experienced, mainstream judge.

If confirmed by the full Senate, Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic and third female judge on the nation's highest court.

The Senate Judiciary Committee hearings are expected to last about a week.

Demjanjuk formally charged for WWII crimes

BERLIN, July 13 (UPI) -- Alleged Nazi camp guard John Demjanjuk was formally charged Monday by a German court with being accessory to about 27,900 killings during World War II.

The Munich State Court ruled 10 days ago that Demjanjuk, 89, was fit to stand trial but limited the time he can be tried each day to two sessions of 90 minutes each, CNN reported.

Demjanjuk, a native Ukrainian, has long denied any role in the Holocaust and claimed he was a prisoner of war, not a death camp guard.

Demjanjuk was deported in May from the United States to Germany, where he was wanted for alleged involvement in the killings as an SS guard at Sobibor, a World War II Nazi death camp in Poland.

The trial in Germany would be Demjanjuk's second war crimes trial. He was convicted in an Israeli trial in the 1970s and sentenced to death, but the sentence was overturned when mistaken identity was proven.

Report: Kim Jong Il has pancreatic cancer

PYONGYANG, North Korea, July 13 (UPI) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is suffering from pancreatic cancer, South Korean Cable TV YTN was quoted as saying Monday.

The television network's report, filed by its correspondent in Beijing, cited unidentified Chinese and South Korean intelligence sources, The New York Times said.

Questions have already been raised about the Communist country leader's health since he suffered a stroke last August.

YTN did not explain how the sources obtained the latest medical information about Kim from North Korea. The isolated country has tended to keep such information a tight state secret, the Times report said.

However, if there has been a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, Kim may not have much longer to live, as pancreatic cancer is difficult to detect in its early stages. The World Health Organization has determined fewer than 5 percent of pancreatic cancer sufferers live past five years.

North Korea, under Kim, shocked the world with its May 25 nuclear test, its second since 2006, and further provoked other countries with its medium- and long-range missile launches. The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution calling for sanctions but those have only led to more intransigence from Pyongyang.

The Times report said in recent TV images Kim had looked frail and was seen limping.

South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper quoted South Korean intelligence services speculating Kim's death, if it occurs, could set off a power struggle between his son and heir apparent Kim Jong Un and his brother-in-law.

Jang Song-taek, the purported No. 2 man in North Korea and director of the Workers' Party administrative department and member of the National Defense Commission, could lead such a power struggle. Jang reportedly supported Kim's oldest son Kim Jong-nam as the heir apparent.

Blast kills 9 in Pakistan's Punjab

LAHORE, Pakistan, July 13 (UPI) -- An explosion Monday in a village in Pakistan's Punjab province killed nine people and injured more than 70 others, authorities said.

The blast occurred in a house near a school where children had gathered for religious education in the village of Mian Channu, Geo TV reported.

Several other homes nearby were destroyed in the blast and the death toll was expected to rise as many people were reported trapped in the rubble.

Those killed in the blast included seven children, one woman and one man, the report said, quoting hospital officials. Among the injured, 12 were reported in critical condition.

The state-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported the explosion might have been caused by explosives hidden in the house.

Though far away from Pakistan's violence-hit tribal regions, the southeastern Punjab province also is seeing a rise in Taliban violence.

Brits slap semi arms embargo on Israel

JERUSALEM, July 13 (UPI) -- Britain has imposed a partial arms embargo on Israel, saying it violated an agreement by using weapons in Operation Cast Lead, a government statement said.

A statement released by the British Embassy in Tel Aviv said the British foreign secretary in April issued a written statement regarding British weapons Israel's army may have used in the conflict in Gaza.

The embassy said the statement "sets out clearly the detail of U.K. components in equipment that may have been used in Operation Cast Lead. U.K. equipment was not exported for specific use in Operation Cast lead and export licenses were issued based on all the evidence available at the time they were granted."

Details of the partial embargo reported in Haaretz Monday said last week the British ministries informed the relevant Israeli companies they were halting deals with Israel's navy after reviewing 182 licenses for arms exports. Britain decided to cancel five licenses relating to parts for the guns on the navy's Saar ships, the paper said.

Since the Gaza operation, British parliamentarians and non-government organizations have been trying to persuade their government to impose a total arms embargo on Israel, the paper said.