■ Colombia
Mayor charged with murder
The attorney general's office charged a town mayor with the murder of a journalist on Friday, issuing an arrest warrant for his arrest. Julio Cesar Ardila, mayor of Barrancabermeja, is accused of ordering the killing of Juan Emeterio Rivas. The radio journalist's bullet-riddled body was found in April in a rural area outside of the town, which is home to the nation's largest oil refinery. Rivas was known for his controversial radio programs, which often accused Ardila of corruption and ties to outlawed paramilitary groups operating in Barrancabermeja, 265km north of the capital Bogota.
■ Spain
Six injured in bull run
Six men were injured early yesterday as they raced with bulls at the week-long Pamplona fiesta, bringing to at least 37 the number of casualties this week in the traditional hair-raising ritual. The incidents took place on the sixth day of racing in the northern Spanish town, in which mainly young men risk death and injury by racing ahead of fighting bulls as these are driven through the streets of the Spanish town en route for the bullring. A 31-year-old British runner, David Bigging, was hospitalized with thigh and head injuries, while a Spanish runner aged 36 was gored in the thigh.
■ Greece
Police defuse bomb
Greek police defused late on Friday an explosive device placed at the doorstep of a branch of US insurance giant AIG in Athens, police sources said. No serious damage was caused by the controlled explosion of the bomb, which was of a small capacity, the sources said. A detonator and remains of TNT were detected, sources said. Police explosive experts were seeking to establish the type of device was used. Police acted upon a phone call made by an unknown man to a television station, warning of an imminent explosion at the site. Senior police and anti-terrorist squad officials were investigating the incident, the sources added.
■ Albania
Blood feuds affect children
More than 1,000 children are confined indoors in Albania for fear of being killed in blood feuds, government figures revealed. According to the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the total number of children currently affected by blood feuds all over the country amounts to 1,024. Almost all of them were from northern Albania, where the tradition of blood feuds is still strong. The government has not been successful in its attempts to fight the phenomenon after it increased in the early 1990s. The children are the victims of murders committed by their fathers or their kinsfolk. The tradition is based on a 15th century Kanun law drawn up by Lek Dukagjini, an Albanian feudal lord of that period.
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