■ United States
Streakers left stranded
Three young men who went streaking through a restau-rant in Spokane, Washing-ton, were chilled when they spotted a thief drive off in their getaway car, their clothes inside. Naked in the -7?C weather, the trio were behind cars in a parking lot until police arrived. "I don't think they were hiding. I think they were just con-cealing themselves," police spokes-man Dick Cottam said. The three entered the restaurant before daybreak Wednes-day, wearing only shoes and hats. They left their car running so they could make a quick escape. But the streakers watched through the windows as a man who had been eating inside the restaurant drove off in their car.
■ United Kingdom
Killer's wife to get pension
The prison suicide of Bri-tain's worst serial killer means his wife will receive a pension she would not have had if he had lived past 60, the Department of Health said on Thursday. This prompted some speculation that he had killed himself to provide for her. Dr. Harold Shipman, who was found to have killed more than 200 of his patients, was discovered hanged in his cell on Tues-day, the day before his 58th birthday. He was convicted in 2000 of killing 15 of the patients, and a judge later determined that he had killed at least 200 more. The government directed that Shipman forfeit his National Health Service pension, but the officials said that Shipman's wife was eligible for survivor benefits.
■ United Kingdom
Kelly report due Jan. 28
The senior judge looking into accusations that the government of British Prime Minister Tony Blair exag-gerated available intelli-gence on Iraq to win public support for war will publish his findings on Jan. 28, his office said on Thursday. The independent inquiry was established after a govern-ment scientist, David Kelly, 59, committed suicide last July 18 after it became known that he was the source for a news story asserting that Blair and his top aides had "sexed up" intelligence findings about Iraq's ability to deploy and launch chemical weapons in 45 minutes. The case has become a referendum on Blair's leadership.
■ Saudi Arabia
Al-Qaeda camps found
Authorities have discovered camps in remote parts of the country used for train-ing Islamist militants to carry out attacks, an interior ministry official said on Thursday. The camps were run by Turki Nasser al-Dandani and Youssef Salih al-Ayeeri, two prominent militants who died last year in battles with Saudi security forces, the official said. This is believed to be the first formal acknowledgement by the Saudi government that training camps linked to al-Qaeda have been estab-lished in the country. Earlier this week Saudi TV showed up to eight militants saying that they had received training at two camps.
■ Argentina
Army probe ordered
President Nestor Kirchner ordered an investigation into charges Argentina's army operated training camps on torture tech-niques during the mid-1980s. The probe was prompted by the discovery of several photos which show soldiers holding rifles in a mock concentration camp. At least one picture showed a soldier holding what appeared to be an electric prod. Government officials would not say how they obtained the pictures.
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