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World in brief
Compiled from Times wires Fire at discotheque kills 47 patrons in VenezuelaCARACAS, Venezuela -- Flames quickly engulfed a tiny, downtown nightclub packed with hundreds of dancers but lacking emergency exits, triggering a panicky stampede and killing 47 people, fire officials and victims said Sunday. Twelve people were injured in the late Saturday night blaze at La Guajira discotheque. Faulty wiring, a kitchen fire or even a carelessly discarded cigarette were all possible causes of the blaze, which erupted near the club's entrance just before midnight Saturday local time, said Fire Chief Rodolfo Briceno. Nearly all the dead succumbed to the smoke. As many as 400 people were inside the discotheque, housed in the basement of the Hotel Venezuela in a densely packed commercial district, when someone yelled "Fire!," victims said. 30 killed in stampedeGAIBANDHA, Bangladesh -- At least 30 women and children were killed and hundreds injured in a stampede when thousands of poor people scrambled for clothes being handed out as charity in a northern Bangladesh town Sunday, police said. The stampede happened outside an abandoned jute mill, where the distribution was planned. The crowd surged into the compound as guards opened its gates, causing the stampede. Two men in charge of distributing the clothes were arrested for possible negligence. Dutch mark pot milestoneHAARLEM, Netherlands -- The Hash and Weed Festival brought the aging pioneers of the Dutch marijuana culture and hundreds of young aficionados to a gymnasium to mark the 30th anniversary of the first "coffee shop" that openly sold reefers like cups of coffee. The weekend festival was a tribute to three decades of progressive drug policies in the Netherlands, which has more than 800 "coffee shops," found in 105 of the country's 500 cities and towns. The Dutch government passed groundbreaking legislation in 1976 that distinguished cannabis-based soft drugs from "hard drugs" such as heroine or cocaine. Possession of about 1 ounce was no longer to be prosecuted as a criminal offense. That liberal approach laid the foundation for a $3-billion economy, attracting millions of visitors each year and generating substantial tax income for the government. Slovenia elects presidentLJUBLJANA, Slovenia -- Long-serving Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek, who has led this former Yugoslav republic closer to the West, won Slovenia's presidential election in a runoff Sunday. With nearly 99 percent of the ballots counted, Drnovsek had about 56 percent of the vote, according to the State Electoral Commission. State prosecutor Barbara Brezigar, a political novice who campaigned on a message that her young country needs new leadership, collected 43.7 percent, according to the results. Putin arrives in ChinaBEIJING -- Russian and Chinese flags flew side by side on Tiananmen Square as Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing today for a visit he said he hoped would strengthen ties between the two countries as China undergoes a leadership change. After improving ties with Western countries following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Putin is turning his attention to the East. Putin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin are expected to sign a joint declaration on "the role of the two countries in the contemporary world," Russia's ITAR-Tass news agency quoted the deputy head of the Kremlin administration, Sergei Prikhodko, as saying. He said topics of discussion would include terrorism, Iraq and North Korea. Rebels on looting rampageABIDJAN, Ivory Coast -- Foreigners evacuated from western Ivory Coast said Sunday that rebels were looting houses and shooting randomly in the streets in violence that appeared to involve Liberian militants. French forces flew 160 people, mostly French and Lebanese merchants and business people, from the key cocoa city of Man near the border with Liberia to Ivory Coast's commercial capital, Abidjan on Sunday. Ivory Coast, the world's leading cocoa producer, now is split three ways as a two-month rebel uprising evolved into a multifronted war. The government now holds the south, including Abidjan, a regional financial hub and strategic port. The rebels who launched the uprising control the north while the new insurgents claim the west. 38 hurt in Swiss rail wreckWIENACHT-TOBEL, Switzerland -- An incorrectly set railway switch sent a passenger train crashing into a rock wall in northern Switzerland on Sunday, injuring 38 passengers, police said. The train, carrying as many as 150 passengers, was just leaving the station at Wienacht-Tobel near Lake Constance when the accident occurred, police spokesman Hanspeter Kruesi said. The improperly positioned switch sent the train onto a side track that ended in front of the rock wall. Four people were hospitalized with serious injuries, Kruesi said. Big Mac bids Bolivia adieuLA PAZ, Bolivia -- Thousands of Bolivians crammed into McDonald's on Saturday to order their final Big Macs before the fast food restaurant closed up shop for good. McDonald's served its last hamburgers in Bolivia Saturday at midnight, after announcing a global restructuring plan in which it would close its doors in seven countries with poor profit margins. Most Bolivians said they were sad to see McDonald's go, after they had finally become accustomed to the fast-food culture so radically different from their traditional Bolivian cuisine. McDonald's brought fast-food culture to Bolivia seven years ago. McDonald's will be survived in Bolivia by Burger King which has said that it now plans to expand its presence in the country.
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From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
