■ Italy
Berlusconi releases CD
Three lucky Italian couples will soon have the opportunity to be married to the strain of love songs written by their prime minister. A CD of pieces largely written by Silvio Berlusconi hits the shops yesterday with a special offer: buyers counting the days to their wedding can enter a draw. The winning couples, one each from the south, center and north of Italy, will be serenaded during the ceremony by his "artistic collaborator" Mariano Apicella, singing songs from the CD. Meglio 'ne Canzone (Better a Song) carries 14 tracks with lyrics by the Italian leader, five of them written in collaboration with a professional librettist.
■ United States
No mo' Rumsfeld mojo
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he does not know whether or not he has lost his mojo, as a leading news magazine suggested, because he doesn't really know what mojo is. "Is Rumsfeld Losing His Mojo?" was the headline in Time magazine above a story about Rumsfeld's recent difficulties concerning Iraq policy and differences with US lawmakers. The Webster's New World Dictionary defines mojo as "a charm or amulet thought to have magic powers," or "power, luck, etc., as of magical or supernatural origin."
■ United States
Phone in toilet causes chaos
Edwin Gallart, 41, of the Edenwald section of the Bronx, was aboard car 8371 of the 6:19pm Harlem Line local train out of Grand Central Terminal when his cell phone fell into the toilet, officials said. When he reached into the bowl to retrieve it, his arm became trapped from hand to elbow. Train operators arranged for rescue crews to meet the train a few stops later, where firefighters used no less than three sets of power tools, including the hydraulic jaws of life, to cut through the toilet, which was ripped from the lavatory before being sliced open. The phone was not found.
■ Greece
Hundreds sick on cruise ship
Hundreds of British tourists on the British-flagged cruise ship Aurora have been hit by a stomach bug and would not be allowed off when it reached Greece's port of Piraeus, Greek officials said on Thursday. "Four hundred and thirty people on board the Aurora are having severe stomach problems," a Merchant Marine Ministry spokeswoman said. The Aurora's owners, P&O Cruises, said the bug was very mild and there had been no need to call in further medical assistance. Greek officials said the ship was carrying 1,900 tourists and 837 crew, and a P&O spokeswoman said: "As far as I am aware all the passengers are British."
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