Austria
VIENNA — Sixty-seven international academics published a strong attack on far-right leader Joerg Haider, accusing him of manipulating racist sentiments and invoking anti-Semitic rhetoric.
Brazil
BRASILIA — The government has rejected the political asylum request of Mexican pop diva Gloria Trevi, and her lawyer said Friday she has nearly run out of ammunition in her fight to avoid extradition.
Bulgaria
SOFIA — Three Russian diplomats asked to leave Bulgaria over suspected spying links were due to depart soon, the Russian Embassy in Sofia said.
China
BEIJING — The United States reiterated its protest against China's detention of a Chinese-born scholar and her young American citizen son, a U.S. official said. The U.S. Embassy appeal for the release of sociologist Gao Zhan came a day after President Bush pressed her case with a top Chinese official and Secretary of State Colin Powell deplored the treatment of her 5-year-old son.
England
LONDON — The skies over England and Wales poured down more rain in the past 12 months than in any year on record, the government meteorological office said. Average rainfall was 51 inches between April 1, 2000 and March 20, 2001, the most since meteorologists began keeping track in 1766.
Italy
ROME — Gianfranco Fini, leader of Italy's post-fascist National Alliance Party, said the right will clamp down hard on illegal immigrants if it wins the May 13 general election.
Lebanon
BEIRUT— The government has recalled its ambassador from the Democratic Republic of Congo to protest the killing of 11 Lebanese after the assassination of president Laurent Kabila, a foreign ministry official said. Eleven Lebanese were killed and mutilated in mysterious circumstances after Kabila was assassinated Jan. 16. Ten of their bodies were flown to Beirut last week.
Lithuania
VILNIUS — U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert said today during a visit that he would support Lithuania's efforts to join NATO. Lithuania has made joining the western military alliance a top foreign policy goal, along with entering the European Union.
Mongolia
ULAN BATOR — An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease has spread to the outskirts of this capital city, civil defense officials said.
Pakistan
KARACHI — A bomb exploded on a crowded public bus in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi on Friday, killing one person and injuring nine others, hospital sources said. A wave of sectarian killings has swept the country, and the government has vowed to crack down on extremist groups.
LAHORE — The leader of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League Party and at least 50 activists were arrested when they tried to reach the site of a banned political rally here, witnesses and opposition sources said.
South Korea
SEOUL — The United States asked for South Korea's support for its controversial missile shield but Seoul said it was maintaining a neutral position on the issue, Foreign Minister Lee Joung-binn said.
Vietnam
HANOI — Vice Foreign Minister Nguyen Dinh Bin has called on the United States to stop interfering in its affairs over ethnic protests in the central highlands region, a state-run newspaper reported.
Yugoslavia
BELGRADE — A Yugoslav colonel indicted by the U.N. war crimes tribunal was quoted as saying he had done nothing wrong and had no fear of being arrested. Veselin Sljivancanin is accused of ordering the execution of at least 200 people taken from a hospital in the Croatian city of Vukovar, when Yugoslav troops and Serb paramilitaries captured it in 1991.