■ Croatia
Driver kills 2, then himself
A bus driver who killed two people in a traffic accident hanged himself in his vehicle shortly afterwards in remorse while police waited to question him. According to police in the eastern town of Osijek the driver first hit parked cars then collided with a car driving in the opposite direction, killing its two occupants. When police arrived they asked the driver, 56, who had been drinking, to await questioning in his bus. "He hanged himself in the bus before we questioned him," an investigating magistrate said, adding that there were no passengers aboard at the time.
■ United Kingdom
Controversial book blocked
The Foreign Office has effectively killed the publication of a controversial fly-on-the-wall memoir of the Iraq war by one of Britain's most senior diplomats. In a move that brought accusations of censorship from its author, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, Britain's ambassador to the UN during the preparations for war in 2003, has been blocked in his efforts to reveal "certain truths" about the conflict. Publishers were set to pull the plug on the book after the Foreign Office demanded drastic cuts. Extracts show that Greenstock saw the conflict as "politically illegitimate." Publishing sources said the book was highly unlikely to see the light of day while Tony Blair was still Prime Minister.
■ Russia
Skinheads beat Muslims
A top Muslim authority said that a group of skinheads had attacked a Muslim prayer house and beat a local Muslim leader in a town near Moscow. The Council of Muftis of Russia said that the incident happened on Friday in the town of Sergiyev Posad, 70km northeast of Moscow. "Violating security of Muslim believers, a group of skinheads armed with bars and spades broke into a prayer house and assaulted its visitors, shouting `Russia for Russians!' and `There is no place for Muslims in Russia!''' the council said in a statement. It urged law enforcement to track down and punish the culprits.
■ Malawi
President pleads for aid
A worsening food crisis threatening millions of people in Malawi prompted the president to plead for international aid and declare a state of disaster in the poor southern African nation. President Bingu wa Mutharika said the crisis was threatening 5 million of the country's 11 million people, as drought has slashed the production of maize, a staple. High rates of HIV infection have also contributed to the crisis, with many farmers too sick with AIDS to plant or tend their crops. Many in Malawi's opposition and civil society, however, said the president's call for help was coming too late, and accused him of ignoring calls to declare a national disaster.
■ United Kingdom
New rape charges mulled
Men who pay for sex with women who have been trafficked into the sex trade could be prosecuted for rape. "Whenever a man knowingly has sex with a woman against her will, that is rape," junior Home Office minister Tony McNulty told the Observer. "For example, if a trafficked woman told a man who had paid to have sex with her that she was engaged in prostitution under duress, then he could not reasonably believe she was freely consenting. To go ahead regardless would be rape." The remarks did not suggest Britain would change its laws, but could indicate a change in the way they are interpreted.
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