RETURN: A man who worked for the humanitarian aid group Terre d'Enfance was taken to a hospital in Paris after spending most of his captivity bound and gagged
A French aid worker released by the Taliban after five weeks in captivity in Afghanistan returned to France yesterday and made a plea for his captors to free three Afghans seized with him.

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CLASH: Pro-government and opposition activists traded assault rifle fire in violence that was sparked by the suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry
Gunbattles and attacks killed at least 18 people and wounded dozens yesterday as Pakistan's political crisis descended into violence between rival parties over President General Pervez Musharraf's suspension of the chief justice.

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The military has placed two army officers under investigation in connection with the disappearance of a left-wing activist, an army spokesman said Saturday.

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A South Korean tycoon accused of a gangland-style revenge attack after his son was assaulted was thrown into a police jail yesterday after a court issued a warrant for his arrest.

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ON DECK: The vice president, while touring the Middle East asking Arab allies to do more to help Iraq, warned that the US would keep Tehran from restricting sea traffic
From an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf, US Vice President Dick Cheney warned Iran that the US and its allies will keep it from restricting sea traffic as well as from developing nuclear weapons.

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Hamas gunmen opened fire on Friday on forces of the rival Fatah, injuring at least six people throughout the Gaza Strip, in another setback to a new security plan aimed at halting the wave of violence plaguing the chaotic coastal area.

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Soldiers demanding a raise took to the streets of Guinea's provincial towns on Friday in the second day of a military-led revolt, taking their complaint beyond the boulevards of the capital in clashes that have left at least two dead.

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The anarchist Giovanni Passann-ante is becoming a cause celebre 97 years after his death.

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A conference on fixing the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) ended on Friday after overcoming a last-minute snag over Iranian objections to a call for it to stop enriching uranium.

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FIERY MARCH: The blaze has charred more than 1,700 hectares of the island resort of Santa Catalina, forcing the evacuation of 3,800 people, residents and tourists alike
The second major Southern California brushfire last week continued to burn on Friday on the resort island of Santa Catalina. But Avalon, the island's major town, appeared to have been spared and some of the thousands of people who had been evacuated began returning from the mainland.

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A 32-year-old woman was mauled to death by a captive tiger at an exotic animal farm in British Columbia while at least three children watched in horror.

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UNHOLY COCKTAIL: A chilling robbery and murder scheme operated by the capital's underworld used various mixes of tranquilizers and flirtatious women to lure victims
Police have busted a Mexican crime ring that used flirtatious young women to rob men after slipping sedatives or eyedrops into their drinks, resulting in the deaths of almost two dozen victims, evidence released on Friday showed.

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An armed man who allegedly held nine hostages inside the Russian embassy in Costa Rica for several hours on Friday surrendered to authorities and no one was harmed in the incident, police said.

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