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Briefs

Palestinian forces free hostage after rare show of force

By wire services
Published January 2, 2006

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Palestinian security officers stormed a building where an Italian hostage was being held Sunday, freeing him in a shootout with his kidnappers.

It was a rare show of force in a wave of kidnappings, shootouts and other mayhem in the Gaza Strip that has embarrassed Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, threatening to undermine his Fatah Party in Jan. 25 legislative elections and boost the Islamic militant group Hamas.

The hostage, Alessandro Bernardini, was abducted early Sunday in the town of Khan Younis. An aide in the European Parliament, he was traveling on a minibus with a delegation that included two European Union lawmakers. Armed men stopped the vehicle, forced him out and sped away with him.

After a four-hour search, Palestinian security agents burst into a Khan Younis building with guns blazing and freed Bernardini.

There were no reports of injuries, and Bernardini was escorted to Gaza City under heavy guard.

Israeli leader will undergo heart procedure this week

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will undergo a heart procedure Thursday to close a small hole that apparently led to his recent stroke, his office announced Sunday.

Doctors said last week that the procedure, known as a cardiac catheterization, would virtually eliminate the risk of Sharon, 77, suffering a similar stroke.

The hole was discovered after Sharon's Dec. 18 stroke. Located in the partition between the upper chambers of his heart, the hole is a common birth defect found in 15 percent to 20 percent of the population, doctors said.

Tropical Storm Zeta drifts in open Atlantic Ocean

Tropical Storm Zeta maintained its strength late Sunday as it drifted southwest across the Atlantic. Zeta is still expected to weaken.

The 27th named storm of a record-breaking hurricane season, Zeta had top sustained winds near 50 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Zeta was not expected to become a hurricane or threaten land.

At 10 p.m. EST, the storm was centered about 1,145 miles southwest of the Azores and moving southwest near 3 mph.

Prisoners donate lunch to hungry fellow Kenyans

NAIROBI, Kenya - Thousands of prisoners skipped lunch Sunday to send food to fellow Kenyans affected by food shortages, a senior prison official said.

Most of Kenya's estimated 50,000 prisoners gave up their ration of beans and corn porridge on the day President Mwai Kibaki declared the shortages caused by drought a national disaster, officials said.

"In the next six months, up to 2.5-million of our people will be in need of famine relief. This represents close to 10 percent of the country's population," Kibaki said.

Prisoners wanted to help after learning about the shortages from TV, newspapers and relatives, said John Isaac Odongo, the commandant of Kenya's prison staff training college.

[Last modified January 2, 2006, 14:04:28]