■ United states
Thief spoils Mother's Day
Paris Hilton's mother can only imagine what her celebrity daughter got her for Mother's Day. That's because thieves stole the gifts before Kathy Hilton received them. A gift bag containing nearly US$10,000 worth of Christian Dior shoes, sunglasses, handbags and perfume was taken from outside the Hilton home, spokesman Elliot Mintz said on Monday. A delivery person set the package down outside the home's gate to ring the intercom when a passenger in a passing car snatched the gifts. "A fellow just whizzed by and grabbed the package," Mintz said.
■ Iraq
Saddam trial hears testimony
The trial of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein over the killing of Shiites in the 1980s began hearing the testimony of defense witnesses yesterday, marking a new stage in the long-running process. Saddam was not in court for the hearing, the day after he defiantly refused to plead to detailed charges against him. The session opened yesterday with just three former Baathist officials in court who are accused of assisting Saddam's regime in finding the names of 148 Shiites from the village of Dujail who were executed in the mid-1980s.
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