■ Saudi Arabia
`Sorcerer' beheaded
A Saudi man was executed Monday for murdering a compatriot and having illicit sex with women by using sorcery to trick them, the Interior Ministry said. Zayed bin Ali bin Saleh al-Thabiti al-Maliki was executed in Taif, a city in western Saudi Arabia, bringing the number of people beheaded in Saudi Arabia this year to 29. Al-Maliki was convicted or murdering and robbing Majri bin Mubarak bin Dakhil al-Aklabi and deceiving women through acts of sorcery to make them have sex with him. The Interior Ministry provided no further details. Saudi authorities executed 35 people in 2004, down from 52 people the year before.
■ Estonia
Government collapses
The Estonian government collapsed on Monday following the passing of a no-confidence vote against Justice Minister Ken-Marti Vaher and the subsequent surprise resignation of Prime Minister Juhan Parts. "The time of this government is apparently over," said the 38-year-old Parts, as 54 of the 101 parliamentarians voted against Vaher. Abstentions and votes for Vaher were not registered, said parliament officials. Parts is to hand in his resignation to Estonian President Arnold Ruutel tomorrow. There was no speculation either from political or domestic media circles over possible candidates to lead a new government.
■ Greece
Parthenon-snatcher busted
A Canadian teenager was arrested after allegedly removing a piece of marble from the grounds of the 2,500-year-old Parthenon on the Acropolis Hill, authorities said Monday. The 17-year-old girl -- who was not further identified -- was arrested Sunday after a security guard saw her removing the stone and called the police. She is due to appear before public prosecutor later Monday. The grounds of the Acropolis are closely monitored to deter unscrupulous souvenir hunters. Under Greece's strict protection laws, it is illegal to own, buy, sell or excavate antiquities without a special permit.
■ Romania
Ceausescu may be exhumed
The daughter of Romania's late Stalinist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu has called on authorities to prove her parents are buried in a Bucharest cemetery by exhuming their bodies. Romanian media said Saturday that Zoe Ceausescu had made a request through a Bucharest court for the Defense Ministry to reveal what happened to Ceausescu and his wife Elena after their summary executions in 1989, following an anti-Communist revolt. "I want the truth," Zoe Ceausescu, 54, told Romanian media. "None of the official documents verify they are buried in that cemetery."
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