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World News Quick Take

■ China
Jail chief `coddles' tycoon
The head of a jail is being investigated for taking bribes in exchange for giving preferential treatment to a Shanghai real-estate tycoon imprisoned in a stock market scandal, the Beijing News reported yesterday. Huang Jian (黃堅), head of the Shanghai Detention Center, was detained at the end of last month after being accused of accepting 490,000 yuan (US$63,000) and jewelry to allow Zhou Zhengyi (周正毅) access to a cellphone and better meals. Zhou was released last year after serving a prison term in a stock market scandal but was taken into custody again in October for unspecified "problems," Xinhua news agency reported last month.

■ China
Bus accident kills seven
Seven people were killed, including six kindergarten-aged children, when their bus plunged into a river in central China, state press said yesterday. The accident occurred late on Friday afternoon in Babao township in Hunan Province, Xinhua news agency reported. The mini-bus was transporting the children home from school when it plunged into the local river. The driver of the vehicle was also killed.

■ China
Drug head under probe
The former head of China's drug administration is being investigated on suspicion of taking bribes to allow a firm to get around drug approval standards, Xinhua news agency said yesterday, citing the China Business Post. Zheng Xiaoyu (鄭筱萸), removed from the post as head of the State Food and Drug Administration in June 2005, is suspected in a string of bribery cases, Xinhua said. Two former department directors -- Hao Heping (郝和平) and Cao Wenzhuang (曹文莊) -- were also under investigation, it said.

■ Bangladesh
Bus crash kills 40
A speeding bus packed with passengers veered off the road, crashed into a ditch and burst into flames in the east of the country, leaving more than 40 passengers dead and many others injured, a police official said. The accident on Saturday occurred in Comilla, about 90km east of Dhaka, as the bus tried to overtake another vehicle. Seven passengers managed to jump out of the bus before it burst into flames, he added. Rescuers pulled about 41 charred bodies from the burnt-out wreck.

■ Sri Lanka
Four bodies found
Police yesterday recovered four bodies, at least two of which appeared to have been executed, in a town in the north, an officer said. Police officers found two of the bodies with gunshot wounds to their heads, in a house still under construction in the garrison town of Vavuniya, the area's chief police officer, E.M. Dharmadasa said. Two more bodies were found with ropes around their necks on the bank of a lake in the same town, Dharmadasa said, adding that police had yet to establish their identities. They appeared to have been strangled, he said.

■ Japan
Snow storm blocks flights
Strong winds and heavy snow engulfed much of the country yesterday, prompting the cancelation of more than 100 flights to and from an international airport and delaying the high-speed bullet train service, officials said. The Meteorological Agency warned of strong winds in the north and west and heavy snow in the main northern island of Hokkaido and areas along the Sea of Japan stretching from the northeast to southwest. At Chubu Centrair International Airport, 109 domestic flights and 29 international flights to and from the airport have been canceled since yesterday morning.

■ Philippines
Suspected terrorists killed
An Indonesian Jemaah Islamiyah member was among six militants killed in a sea clash with Philippine troops off the country's southernmost province, an official said yesterday. The Philippine army, navy, and marines were involved in Saturday's gunbattle that killed the six militants aboard a motorboat off Tawi Tawi Province, 1,050km southwest of Manila, a navy spokesman said. Five Filipinos from the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group also died. Among the dead was Indonesian terrorist suspect Gufran, who used only one name and allegedly belonged to the Indonesian-based militant group Jemaah Islamiyah. Gufran was a key aide of Dulmatin, a top Indonesian terror suspect.

■ Nepal
Water utility on strike
Striking employees of the state-run utility agency threatened yesterday to cut off water to the king's palace and residences of the prime minister and other Cabinet members. Nepal Water Supply Corporation workers have been protesting since Friday against government plans to contract a private firm to supply water to Katmandu's 2 million residences. There have been severe water shortages in Katmandu over the past few years, with customers often getting barely an hour of running water every two or three days. Corruption and indifference in the agency have been blamed for the mismanagement of water supply and the government says a private contractor would be more efficient. The striking employees said hiring a private agency would increase the cost of water to the general public.

■ Greece
Anarchists attack banks
Suspected anarchists armed with firebombs and rocks damaged three banks in Athens early on Saturday, authorities said. Police said some 30 anarchists attacked three Athens banks on central Mitropoleos street shortly after midnight on Friday. The hooded youths torched a Bank of Cyprus ATM machine and smashed the windows of Emporiki Bank and Eurobank, police said. No arrests or injuries were reported.

■ United Kingdom
Army to guard infrastructure
A Sunday newspaper reported that the army will be deployed at British oil, gas and electricity facilities to defend them from possible terrorist attacks. The News of the World cited an unnamed source as confirming security will be increased around the facilities after intelligence suggested terrorists may target the country's infrastructure. The newspaper said the measure would mark the first time soldiers had been called in to guard such facilities. The Home Office, which oversees counterterrorism efforts, would not confirm the report, but said in a statement that it was reviewing security around key infrastructure facilities.

■ United Kingdom
Tabloid reveals Wright letter
An Ipswich man accused of murdering five prostitutes in a 10-day period last month has protested his innocence in a letter from jail to his partner, the News of the World said yesterday. The weekly tabloid said Steve Wright, 48, had written the three-page letter from the high-security Belmarsh prison in London to Pam Goodman telling her: "Please believe me when I say I'm not capable of those crimes." Other extracts of the leaked letter detail how he has spent his time on remand since being charged on Dec. 21.

■ Italy
Colosseum lit up in protest
Rome lit up the Colosseum at sunset on Saturday as part of a campaign for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty, efforts buoyed by a wave of denunciations across Europe over late Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's execution. The 2,000-year-old arena has become a symbol of Italy's stance against capital punishment. Since 1999, the monument has been bathed in golden light every time a death sentence is commuted in the world or a nation abolishes capital punishment. "UN moratorium on executions" read a banner held by supporters of Hands Off Cain, an anti-death penalty organization, as the monument was lit up. After the Dec. 30 execution of Saddam, Prime Minister Romano Prodi's center-left government began a diplomatic push to have the moratorium initiative taken up by the UN.

■ Vatican
Archbishop right to resign
The Vatican's spokesman yesterday said that the past actions of the Warsaw archbishop who cooperated with communist-era secret police compromised his authority and he was right to resign. The behavior of Stanislaw Wielgus "in past years during the communist regime in Poland gravely compromised his authority," the Reverend Federico Lombardi said in a statement to Vatican Radio. Lombardi added that Wielgus was right to resign yesterday "despite his humble and moving request for forgiveness." Wielgus announced his decision in Warsaw's St. John's Cathedral, which was packed with worshippers gathered for a Mass that was to have marked his formal installation.

■ United States
Planes damaged at JFK
The left wing of an Air China plane backing out of a gate at John F. Kennedy International Airport clipped the tail of a Delta plane on the taxiway, but no one was injured, authorities said. The Air China flight had 215 passengers on board and 23 crew members and was destined for Beijing at the time of the incident on Saturday afternoon, said Tony Ciavolella, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which manages the airport. The Delta flight was empty because the plane was in a pre-boarding phase on its way to Nice, France, said Delta spokeswoman Katie Connell.

■ United States
Animal horder does it again
A man found living with more than 1,300 rats last year faces new charges after 37 rats and six cats were seized from the filthy cabin of his sailboat, animal control officers said. Roger Dier of Petaluma was cited for cruelty to animals and confining animals in too small of a space following the discovery of the animals on Thursday in the boat anchored on the Petaluma River. "The cabin was covered with urine and feces," said Jeff Charter, a senior animal control officer. When Charter asked Dier how he could live with such a smell, Dier said "I don't even notice it anymore," Charter reported.

■ United States
Man sets fire to church
A man walked into a Catholic church, doused a nativity scene with a flammable liquid and set it ablaze in front of a practicing choir, police said. Robert Mills, 40, was arrested on Friday night while hiding in a park minutes after police said he walked into St Cornelius Parish and announced he was going to set the church on fire. Mills told everyone to leave but blocked the doorway until he began showering the sanctuary with the liquid, giving choir members a chance to escape, said Richmond Police Lieutenant Enos Johnson. The fire destroyed the nativity scene, a lectern and carpeting, and caused extensive smoke damage. No one was injured.

■ El Salvador
Prison riot claims 20
A riot at a maximum-security prison in western El Salvador left at least 20 inmates dead on Saturday, officials said. Officials regained control of the facility and found 17 prisoners dead, but another outbreak of fighting claimed three more lives later on Saturday, according to a federal police representative inside the facility, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid the chance of reprisals by inmates. Wilfredo Olivares, a representative for the government human rights prosecutor, said that "the information we have is that another revolt broke out in Sector 11 where they were safeguarding members of a gang." The riot began late on Friday as inmates prepared to enter their cells, authorities said.

■ United States
Tigger `hits' kid
A Walt Disney World employee dressed as the character "Tigger" was accused of hitting a child while posing for a photo, Disney spokeswoman Zoraya Suarez said. Park officials temporarily suspended Michael Fedelem while they investigate the accusations. "Naturally, physical altercations between cast members and guests are not tolerated," Suarez said on Saturday. Jerry Monaco of New Hampshire videotaped his son, Jerry Jr, posing with the costumed character at Disney-MGM Studios on Friday and recorded the confrontation, according to a statement from the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

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