■ United States
Jail beckons Bobby Brown
Singer Bobby Brown, 35, who was arrested recently for slugging his pop singer wife Whitney Houston, 40, was sentenced to 60 days' jail for violating the conditions of his probation, media reports said Friday. The judge found Brown guilty of several violations of a two-year disciplinary probation for a 1996 drunken driving charge, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The two-year sentence began in January last year. The violations included his attack on his wife and his refusal to participate in a drug test.
■ United Kingdom
Grisly house claim denied
A couple on Friday lost their effort to win compensation from homeowners who sold them a house without mentioning it had been the scene of a gruesome murder. A panel of three Court of Appeal judges ruled that sellers James and Alison Taylor-Rose were not obliged to tell buyers Alan and Susan Sykes of the home's grisly past. The Sykes' lawyer, Clive Freedman, said in court that they learned the truth when they saw a TV documentary about a man who had butchered his 13-year-old adopted daughter and hid her body parts around the family house and garden in 1984. Many have never been recovered. "Knowing there were still undiscovered body parts in the house was particularly horrific," Freedman said. He said the couple could no longer bear living at the house near Wakefield, northern England, which they later sold at a loss.
■ Venezuela
Two die during protests
At least two people died in clashes on Friday over the continuing presidency of Hugo Chavez as troops used tear gas, rubber bullets and tanks to block several thousand opposition marchers. The marchers were trying to gain the attention of leaders attending the G-15 summit for developing and partly developed countries meeting in Caracas. At least 27 people were injured, and another 350, including 20 children, were treated at clinics, media reports said. The Chavez opponents were protesting a ruling earlier this week that stymied their efforts to force a recall vote.
■ Israel
Two dead in car shooting
An Israeli man and woman were killed on Friday night when shots were fired at their vehicle as it was traveling on the road from Hebron in the West Bank to Beersheeba in southern Israel, Israel Radio reported. The car, with the couple inside, was found on the border between Israel and the West Bank. There was initial speculation that the fatal shots had been fired from a passing car. There was no initial claim of responsibility.
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