■ United Kingdom
Passive smoking is safe
Passive smoking will not kill you, give you heart disease or lung cancer, according to a study which will inflame the controversy over tobacco bans in restaurants and the pariah status of smokers at work. The findings from a California study, published as the lead paper and cover story of the highly-regarded British Medical Journal, provoked anguish and anger from campaigners, public health officials and the cancer society whose data it analysed. The study focused on 35,561 people who had never smoked, but who lived with a spouse who did. They found that passive smoking was not linked to death from coronary heart disease or lung cancer, no matter how much or how often the spouse smoked.
■ United States
Robert Stack dies
Robert Stack, the tough-guy hero of TV's Untouchables, was remembered as a real-life softie. Stack, 84, was found dead of a heart attack Wednesday evening at his home by his wife, Rosemarie. The actor was treated for prostate cancer in October. But his wife said he had been feeling good, and he looked hardy at a weekend 80th birthday party for longtime friend Johnny Grant. "He came in full of energy and enthusiasm, gave me a good, strong birthday hug," Grant said Thursday.
■ Saudi Arabia
Detainees set free in Cuba
The US handed over five Saudi detainees on Thursday from the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to Saudi Interior Minister Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz. Prince Naif said that the kingdom had begun contacts with the US about Saudi detainees in Guantanamo since their transfer to Cuba from Afghanistan, where they were captured in the wake of the 2001 US-led war to remove the Taliban regime. The minister refused to name the freed detainees, saying only that contacts are on-going to repatriate Saudi detainees from the US base and to give them lawful and just trials at home.
■ Argentina
New president acts fast
Argentina's new president-elect Nestor Kirchner searched on Thursday for allies to help rebuild Latin America's third largest economy after two years of political and economic chaos, as he began his short 10-day transition period. Kirchner became president-elect abruptly on Wednesday after ex-President Carlos Menem dropped out of the race, depriving Kirchner, a little-known governor from Patagonia, of his expected landslide victory in a runoff. Instead, Kirchner will take office May 25 having won just 22 percent of votes in the first round on April 27.
Agencies
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