■ Georgia
UN hostages released
Three UN military observers and their Georgian translator arrived in the Georgian capital Tbilisi yesterday after their abductors freed them following six days of captivity. Gunmen had grabbed the four on Thursday as they patrolled the tense Kodori Gorge, a region disputed by the Georgian government and Abkhazian separatists. The kidnappers had demanded US$3 million in ransom, but Georgian officials said they paid nothing, local media reported. The government pledged not to detain the captors in exchange for the release, the reports said.
■ United States
Regan dies of cancer
Donald Regan, a former US treasury secretary and powerful member of president Ronald Reagan's Cabinet, died on Tuesday at the age of 84, his former employer Merrill Lynch said. Regan was treasury secretary in the Reagan administration from 1981 to 1985, then became White House chief of staff from 1985 to 1987, in the president's second term. Regan was forced to resign from the White House in 1987 in the wake of the Iran-contra "arms for hostages" scandal. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Ann Buchanan Regan, four children and nine grandchildren. He had been treated for cancer before his death.
■ United Kingdom
Blair gets e-mail address
For a leader who proclaims himself as a great modernizer, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has fallen into ignominious company. Along with Robert Mugabe and Fidel Castro, he has until recently been one of only a handful of world leaders not hooked up to e-mail. Needless to say, every other leader in the G8 is on e-mail. Officials are likely to say that Blair has had enough to worry about recently. But there may be a simple explanation: despite attending computer classes he appears to be clueless about technology. An e-mail address has now been set up for him, and it is: rthontonyblairmp@hotmail.com.
■ United States
Eccentric keeps sex slaves
A retired handyman known as a local eccentric pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges that he kidnapped five women and held them captive in a bunker under his suburban yard so he could force them to have sex. John Jamelske, 68, admitted in Onondaga County Court here that he kidnapped the women, ranging in age from 14 to one in her early 50s, over the last 15 years. Jamelske told prosecutors last month he decided to kidnap the women after his ailing wife was no longer able to have sex. "His reason was that he wanted a sexual relationship with monogamous partners who he was sure were not out getting diseases," said the first chief assistant district attorney, Rick Trunfio.
Agencies
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