■ Vatican City
Pope blesses, can't speak
Pope John Paul blessed crowds on Easter Sunday yesterday but was unable to speak. The 84-year-old Pope appeared at his window overlooking St Peter's Square after one of his senior cardinals celebrated an Easter Mass for the ailing Pontiff. Aides had brought a microphone to the Pope's mouth. The Pope tried to speak. He made a few sounds but was unable to pronounce any words. The Pope, who returned to the Vatican from hospital on March 13, stayed at the window while his secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, read the pontiff's Urbi et Orbi message in the square below.
■ Iraq
Video of execution posted
Loyalists of al-Qaeda's Iraq frontman, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, posted a video on their website yesterday showing the execution of a man who said he was an Iraqi colonel. The man, who identified himself as Colonel Ryad Kateh Olyway, was shown being shot in the head blindfold by a masked man after "confessing" that he had "collaborated" with US forces in Iraq. "The religious court of the Organization of al-Qaeda of Jihad in the Land of Two Rivers has decided to implement God's order on this infidel ... to serve as a lesson to others," said the gunman before shooting his captive. The shooter was flanked by two masked men armed with assault rifles who posed in front of a banner carrying the organization's name.
■ Brazil
Serial killer may be at large
Police fear a serial killer may be preying on women tourists in the beach towns of Maranhao in northeastern Brazil, the state public security secretary said on Saturday. The bodies of two women, a Spaniard and a German, were found buried on beaches and a Brazilian tourist is still missing. All the women were travelling alone and seen with a man shortly before they disappeared, Detective Nordman Ribeiro of the Civil Police in Maranhao said. Witnesses provided a similar description of the man seen with the murdered women, Ribeiro said.
■ United States
FBI flubbed on secret files
The FBI admitted it accidentally gave classified documents back to the US translator who pleaded guilty to taking them from the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Ahmed Fathy Mehalba, who was released from jail earlier this month, contacted the FBI's Boston office Tuesday after he realized agents had inadvertently given him the compact disc containing the secret files along with his personal property. Mehalba had the disc in his possession for only a "matter of hours" before the FBI retrieved it, said Assistant US Attorney Michael Ricciuti. "Someone in the bureau obviously made a serious mistake," Ricciuti said.
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