■ Peru
Toledo tackles corruption
President Alejandro Toledo pledged late Saturday to investigate a scandal involving a former presidential adviser who secretly met two years ago with a fugitive army general wanted on corruption charges. "As president, I announce a far-reaching and meticulous investigation and demand that the weight of the law fall upon those responsible," Toledo said. On Friday, RPP radio released parts of an audiotape of a December 2001 conversation between Toledo's then-adviser Cesar Almeyda and General Oscar Villanueva, who later committed suicide. Toledo said that Almeyda went ``behind his back'' to meet the general, who had been accused of handling illegal funds for Vladimiro Montesinos, the former intelligence chief under Peru's previous president, Alberto Fujimori.
■ Congo
Barge fire leaves 200 missing
Nearly 200 people were missing after a barge caught fire and sank in a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UN said Saturday. At least 301 of the nearly 500 people aboard the barge survived last Monday's accident on the Congo River near the town of Lukelela, said Alexandre Essome, spokesman for the UN Mission in Congo in the northwestern city of Mbandaka. One person was confirmed dead and at least one other suffered severe burns, he said.
■ United States
Court ponders cameras
Major news organizations asked a judge to allow cameras into a court appearance by Michael Jackson on molestation charges, saying that a wild spectacle surrounding a prior hearing should be countered by images of orderly proceedings. But it was not immediately clear how Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville would handle the request -- which was not opposed by prosecutors -- because he refused to schedule a hearing into the matter. Hundreds of fans gathered outside a courthouse in Santa Maria, California, for Jackson's arraignment on Jan. 16 and were driven into a frenzy when the 45-year-old entertainer climbed on top of his sports utility vehicle to dance and wave.
■ United States
Fish fights fire
A smoke alarm summoned firefighters to a school in the middle of the night, but when they arrived the flames had already been put out. A fish named Dory took care of it. Dory is a Betta kept in a vase on a desk in a classroom at Trinity Lone Oak Lutheran School in Eagan, Minnesota. A forgotten candle started a small fire on the desk on Jan. 24, setting off the smoke alarm and shattering the fish bowl, spilling enough water to put out the flames. Firefighters found a few embers still glowing on the desk -- and Dory still alive in a puddle.
RSS