World News Quick Take

■ PHILIPPINES

`Dirty Harry' shuns son

The tough-talking mayor of Manila who earned the nickname "Dirty Harry" for his anti-crime crusades said yesterday he won't lift a finger to help his son who was nabbed in a drug bust. Mayor Alfredo Lim said his 44-year-old son, Manny, should pay for his actions. "Whatever trouble he got himself into, he has to bear it," Lim said during a flag-raising ceremony at Manila Police District headquarters. Radio DZBB reported that Lim refused to visit his son in jail after he and two others were arrested in a hotel room on Saturday, allegedly carrying 100g of methamphetamine worth about 600,000 pesos (US$15,000).



■ AUSTRALIA

Fighter sale to proceed

Canberra yesterday its threat to cancel a A$6 billion (US$4.6 billion) contract to buy 24 US-manufactured Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters. Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said the sale would go ahead after a review by officials of the aircraft's capabilities. Fitzgibbon ordered the review after accusing the previous government of pushing the Defense Department into the deal last year for political rather than national security reasons. But although the former government had not properly compared the Super Hornets with potential alternatives, Fitzgibbon found they were more than adequate.



■ AUSTRALIA

Haneef to sue government

An Indian doctor jailed without charge last year in a bungled counterterrorism case will seek compensation from the government, he and his lawyer said yesterday. Mohammed Haneef, who was deported when the case alleging his involvement in failed terrorist attacks in London and Scotland collapsed, has a strong claim to a substantial payout, lawyer Rod Hodgson said. He did not cite an amount. "There are several grounds, including the effect on reputation, the wrongful imprisonment ... also the period of time that Dr Haneef was kept in custody," Hodgson told reporters.



■ AFGHANISTAN

Danish soldiers killed

A Taliban-style suicide car bomb exploded near a NATO convoy in the south yesterday, killing two Danish soldiers and wounding another, the Danish Army Central Command said. NATO's International Security Assistance Force said the explosion was aimed at a patrol in Girishk District of Helmand Province. The attacker detonated a car bomb near the convoy, Helmand police chief Mohammed Hussain Andiwal said. "It was a busy hour of the day when everyone was going to their work," Andiwal said. The army said the soldiers were working on a reconstruction project.



■ HONG KONG

Three sex workers killed

Police investigating the murder of three sex workers in the past few days, with police keeping open the possibility yesterday that a single serial killer might be responsible. Since Saturday, three prostitutes, all in their 30s, have been found murdered in their ransacked apartments in two districts in the New Territories. The first two women had been robbed and strangled to death, one with a hose, while the third was certified dead with no apparent injuries early yesterday morning. "We are adopting a very open-minded approach, we will rigorously pursue all lines of inquiries," said Steve Li, a police superintendent.



■ UNITED STATES

Bees swarm Highway 99

Millions swarming honey bees are on the loose after a truck carrying crates of the insects flipped over on a California highway. The California Highway Patrol (CHP) says 8 million to 12 million bees escaped on Sunday from crates and swarmed over an area of Highway 99, stinging officers, firefighters and tow truck drivers who tried to clear the accident. CHP officer Michael Bradley says a tractor trailer flipped over while entering the highway on its way to Yakima, Washington.



■ UNITED STATES

Corn flake resembles Illinois

Someone offered more than US$20 on eBay for a piece of breakfast cereal that resembles the state of Illinois. Two sisters listed "The Great Illinois Corn Flake" on the site. Emily McIntire, a sophomore in high school from Chesapeake, Virginia, said she was grabbing fistfuls of cereal when she found the flake. "It was almost to my mouth, it didn't look like Illinois at first because it was held the wrong way," said McIntire, but then she noticed the resemblance and said, "Oh my goodness, it's Illinois."



■ IRAN

Tehran blasts EU statement

Tehran accused the EU of unacceptable behavior and political manipulation yesterday after the bloc issued a statement describing Iranian parliamentary elections as unfair. "The issuing of this statement by the EU presidency is hasty, has political intentions and is opportunist and unacceptable," foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said in a statement. "It is to be condemned." The EU had said that the disqualification of reformist candidates in pre-vote vetting meant that Friday's election "was neither fair nor free."



■ UNITED KINGDOM

McCartney's ex gets millions

Former Beatle Paul McCartney and his estranged wife Heather Mills have agreed a divorce deal worth nearly ?25 million (US$50 million), Mills said yesterday. "The most important thing for me is to get this over and done with, she told reporters on the steps of London's High Court. Mills described the ?24.3 million settlement as "incredible" and that she was "very, very, very pleased" for herself and the couple's four-year-old daughter, Beatrice. "It was always going to be a figure between 20 and 30 million. Paul was offering a lot less than that," she said. She said McCartney had offered her ?15.8 million, but the judge made the award after estimating his fortune to be about ?400 million.



■ MEXICO

Accusations fly after polls

Moderates hardliners exchanged accusations of voting irregularities on Sunday as the main leftist party chose new leaders. The two front-runners for the Democratic Revolution Party's top job would likely take the party in sharply different directions. Exit polls released late on Sunday showed former Mexico City mayor Alejandro Encinas leading former senator Jesus Ortega. Polls were marred by allegations of vote-buying, intimidation and improper handling of ballots, with problems at 376 polling places.



■ SPAIN

ABBA drummer dies

The former drummer of 1970s Swedish pop group ABBA, Brunkert Ola, has been found dead after an apparent accident in the garden of his house in Mallorca, Spanish news agency EFE reported yesterday. Ola bled to death from a throat wound which police suspect was caused by the smashing of a pane of glass, EFE said.