■ United States
B-movie greats recognized
Zsa Zsa Gabor and Sonny Chiba reached the heights of low-budget filmmaking as they were among those selected by cinephiles around the world for induction into the B-Movie Hall of Fame. Chiba, the Japanese icon of martial-arts flicks including Gangster Cop (1970) and The Street Fighter (1974), and Hungarian-born glamor girl Zsa Zsa Gabor, of such campy films as The Girl in the Kremlin (1957) and The Queen of Outer Space (1958), were among 10 artists and 10 films honored Monday.
■ Canada
Environment record attacked
The Canadian government is not doing enough to protect the environment because of a lack of leadership and political will, a senior official said in a scathing report released on Tuesday. Johanne Gelinas, Canada's commissioner of the environment, said some salmon populations were in trouble and that Ottawa had no idea whether initiatives to cut oil pollution and improve air quality were working. "Why is progress so slow? After all, the mandates and commitments are there, the knowledge of what to do and how to do it is there, and we know it can be done," she said in a statement accompanying the annual report.
■ Chile
Bush accused of war crimes
Chileans opposed to the Iraq war have accused US President George W. Bush of war crimes in a criminal complaint lodged on Tuesday, less than a month before he is scheduled to visit the country. The suit asks local courts to invoke international human rights treaties ratified by both countries and arrest Bush and members of his Cabinet for questioning during their visit to Santiago for a summit of Asia Pacific leaders Nov. 19-21. The courts usually take a few days to decide whether to accept this type of complaint and assign a judge who then has power to call people for questioning before deciding whether to indict. Filing criminal suits by civilians is common in Chile.
■ Colombia
Outlaw ex-officer killed
Colombian troops on Tuesday killed a former US-trained Colombian army officer accused of murdering a state official and who later joined an outlawed paramilitary group, the army said. Former Colombian Army Major David Hernandez, who five years ago became a leader of the right-wing United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, was killed in a clash between army troops and more than 100 AUC fighters in northern Colombia, said Colonel Nestor Raul Espitia, commander of the army's 10th Brigade. Army troops, backed by attack helicopters, killed a total of five paramilitaries, Espitia said.
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