■ United Kingdom
`Work-gang masters' sought
The British police said on Saturday that an investigation into the deaths of 19 Chinese immigrants who drowned in tidal surges while digging for shellfish in northwestern England was leading them to the shadowy world of "rogue" work-gang masters in the Liverpool area. Mick Gradwell, deputy superinten-dent of detectives in Lanca-shire, said a number of leads suggested that crew chiefs in that region had been trans-porting Chinese immigrants to the tidal flats of Morecambe Bay to cash in on soaring prices for cockles, mollusks that bring high prices in European restaurants.
■ United States
Spirit drills hole in rock
The Mars rover Spirit drilled a hole in a rock on the Red Planet, marking the robot's return to full health and the first time a rover has deliberately carved martian rock, NASA scientists said. The rover's drill made a circular, 2.65mm-deep hole in a rock nicknamed Adirondack by scientists, according to information on the mission's Web site posted late on Friday. "When we saw virtually a complete circle, I was thrilled beyond anything I could have ever dreamed," said Steve Gorevan, who led the team at New York-based Honeybee Robotics, which designed the drill. "With the ... cutting parameters we set, I didn't think it would cut this deep."
■ Venezuela
Chavez accused of bullying
Venezuela's government is trying to intimidate officials who are deciding whether President Hugo Chavez should face a recall, an election official charged on Saturday. Ezequiel Zamora, vice president of the National Elections Council, condemned government plans to hold a vigil of pro-Chavez activists next week at a plaza next to elections headquarters in Caracas. Zamora also claimed he was being followed by military police and that his office telephones and faxes had been tampered with. Some elections staff have received death threats, he said. "We won't tolerate this lack of respect," Zamora told reporters. "The executive branch is interfering in the affairs of the election authorities."
■ Iran
Khatami backs down on vote
President Mohammad Khatami gave in to the supreme leader's order to hold legislative elections on Feb. 20 but said the polls would not be fair because thousands of prominent reformist candidates have been disqualified. Khatami's reluctant announcement and the boycott of the election by many reformists is likely to further erode its legitimacy, already in doubt after hard-liners repeatedly sabotaged attempts to reach a compromise over the disqualified candidates. In a joint letter sent to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday, Khatami and Parliament Speaker Mahdi Karroubi warned there will be little motivation for people to vote.
■ Ivory Coast
Gbagbo's rebel visit in doubt
Ivory Coast's rebels cast doubt Saturday on President Laurent Gbagbo's planned visit to their stronghold, saying it would be a "miracle" if it took place because they had not been consulted. Ivory Coast's government announced on Thursday that Gbagbo would visit rebel headquarters in Bouake on Feb. 16, in what would be his first venture into rebel territory since a civil war followed a failed coup in September 2002. "We don't have a problem with the fact he will come to Bouake one day, but we do have a problem with the fact he decided on his own," rebel spokesman Konate Sidiki said.
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