■ United States
Judge orders Bible shelved
A federal judge ruled again Monday that a Bible must be removed from a monument outside the Harris County civil courts building in Texas. US District Judge Sim Lake denied an emergency request by the county to allow the display to remain until appeals are exhausted. Lake first ruled Aug. 10 that the display violates the constitutional separation of church and state. A real estate broker and attorney, Kay Staley, sued the county last year, arguing the Bible display improperly advanced Christianity. The county said the display originated as a private expression of free speech -- with private donations being used to buy the Bible -- and that the county should not be held responsible for its contents.
■ Colombia
New role for Escobar's zoo
A zoo built by drug kingpin Pablo Escobar and a symbol of the excesses of trafficking, will become an attraction for environmental tourists, the Colombian government said. Escobar, who once supplied most of the cocaine to the US, furnished the Hacienda Napoles in Puerto Triunfo with animals from Africa. Ownership of the farm, was disputed since his death in 1993. Escobar used to entertain visitors at Hacienda Napoles, smoking marijuana and stroking the animals. A court found in February that the Colombian government could confiscate the hacienda because it had likely been paid for with drug money.
■ Yemen
Rebel leader killed
The brother of a Muslim preacher leading a two-month rebellion against the authorities has been killed in an army raid targeting pockets of resistance in Yemen's northern region, military sources said. "Abdel Malek al-Huthi was killed by the Yemeni army during fierce clashes on Monday evening between the armed forces and rebels in an assault on the Shaab Salman region," near the border with Saudi Arabia, the sources said. The brother had commanded the snipers among the rebels, according to the sources, who also said that another of the preacher's brothers, Abdel Karim, was arrested during the raid.
■ United States
`Spider-Man' charged
A man dubbed the "Spider-Man Burglar" because of his ability to scale walls, leap from windows and swing on fire escapes was convicted Monday of breaking into offices and apartments in Manhattan. Rufus Graham, 41, was also convicted of breaking into two schools. Police officer Ray Gogarty testified that he saw Graham leap backward out a seventh-floor office window and land on the roof of a theater that was across a 3m alley and three stories below. Graham pretended to be hurt until he spotted a fire escape, which he quickly slid down and vanished, the officer testified. Graham, a former personal trainer, did not testify at trial.
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