Former Russian nuclear energy minister Yevgeny Adamov was arrested at the request of US officials who have demanded his extradition, a Swiss official said yesterday. Adamov, a nuclear physicist, was arrested in Bern during a visit on Monday, said Folco Galli, spokesman for the Justice Ministry. He confirmed Adamov was wanted by US authorities for several accounts of fraud and money-laundering. Galli said Adamov is accused of diverting up to US$9 million that the US Energy Department provided Russia to improve security at its nuclear facilities.
■ Denmark
Graffiti alerts Web pirates
The sprayed letters "NW" that have begun appearing on buildings in the Danish capital are no ordinary graffiti tag, the Politiken newspaper reported on Tuesday. The tag signals that there is free access to a wireless Internet connection at the location -- an invitation to any owner of a laptop computer with a wireless facility. The phenomenon is known as "warchalking," and "NW" is short for networking. "The people who make these tags usually have ideological reasons. They want to make the Internet accesible to as many people as possible," Soren Thomasen of the IT unit of the national police told Politiken.
■ United States
Support for Iraq war drops
Support for the Iraq war among Americans has dropped 41 percent, the lowest level since the US-led invasion toppled the Saddam Hussein dictatorship, according to a USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll published yesterday. Fifty-seven percent of the 514 people surveyed Friday through Sunday thought the Iraq war was not worth the fight, against only 41 percent who said it was. In a poll taken between Feb. 7 and Feb. 10, after the Iraqi elections, 48 percent said the war had been worth waging, against 50 who thought not. Support for the US-led war peaked at 76 percent right after it was launched in March 2003, the poll takers said.
■ Canada
Powder sickens 20 at airport
A mysterious white powder emanating from a package from Bangladesh made 20 people feel sick and sent four to the hospital late on Tuesday at Montreal's international airport, according to media reports. One of the injured people was taken away unconscious, radio and television reports said. A white powder apparently emanating from a package that arrived from Bangladesh on a British Airways flight caused people in the surrounding area to feel sick, Radio-Canada said on its Web site. The active substance in the white powder has yet to be determined.
■ United States
Bawdy cheerleading a no-no
After an alternately comic and fiery debate -- punctuated by several lawmakers waving pompons -- the Texas state House approved a bill to restrict "overtly sexually suggestive" cheerleading to more ladylike performances. The bill approved on Tuesday would give the state education commissioner authority to request that school districts review high school performances. "Girls can get out and do all of these overly sexually performances and we applaud them and that's not right," said Democratic Representative Al Edwards, who filed the legislation. Edwards said bawdy performances are a distraction for students resulting in pregnancies, dropouts and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
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