Around the world
CRITICISM: Five South American nations joined together to criticize the United States for its decision to cut off aid to Colombia for failing to combat drug trafficking. Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia leveled the criticism Sunday at the end of a two-day summit in Trujillo, Peru. "No country has the right to unilaterally evaluate the conduct of another sovereign nation," said Peruvian President Al-berto Fujimori.ALLEGIANCE: Australia's conservative John Howard took the oath as Australia's new prime minister Monday, swearing allegiance to the British queen he would like to keep as the country's titular head. Howard's inauguration ceremony was held at the government house in Canberra, the official residence of Queen Elizabeth II's representative in Australia.
INJURED: An American soldier suffered second-degree burns on her face, right arm and back while working at a mobile kitchen stove, U.S. officials at Tuzla Air Base, Bosnia-Herzegovina, said Monday. The woman was injured Sunday at Base Camp Lisa near the town of Vlasenica, 20 miles south of the U.S. headquarters. She was treated at the camp, then evacuated by helicopter to the 212th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital south of Tuzla.
Across the nation
CHARGES? Cuban defector Juan Pablo Roque could face murder conspiracy charges in the downing of two planes flown by Cuban exiles, should he return to the United States, an FBI agent told The Miami Herald. Roque is under investigation in the Feb. 24 shoot-down by Cuban MiG fighter jets, the FBI's Miami spokesman, Paul Miller, said in a story published Sunday.
COLLISION: Up to 20 people were slightly injured Monday morning when three trolley cars collided underground. The subway-surface cars from the Green Line collided just before 8 a.m. in an area in west Philadelphia where several tracks converge, said Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority spokesman Ron Patton.
FALLING STAR? A wayward two-ton satellite is expected to fall out of orbit sometime late Monday through Wednesday, and there's a chance it could survive re-entry and hit the ground, the Air Force said from Colorado Springs, Colo. The North American Aerospace Defense Command has been tracking the FSW-1 Chinese spy satellite since it was launched on Oct. 8, 1993.