Australia
MELBOURNE — Police said they seized chemicals used to make an ecstasylike drug in a massive haul with a street value of $1.06 billion.
Cambodia
PHNOM PENH — An opposition candidate was shot dead by an unidentified gunman in the latest incident of violence to mar the run-up to the country's first ever local polls next year, party officials said.
China
BEIJING — A long-distance bus swerved off a highway in central China, plunged into a 100-foot ravine and killed 30 passengers, several of them children, a government official said.
HONG KONG — About 100 Hong Kong disciples of the Falun Gong spiritual movement called for the release of practitioners kept in Chinese jails and labor camps and for an end to Beijing's persecution of the group.
Colombia
BOGOTA — A powerful car bomb was detonated in a small Colombian town, killing one person and injuring 25 others in an attack blamed on Cuban-inspired rebels, police said. The bomb, packed with about 220 pounds of explosives, went off in the farming town of Marinilla, about 37 miles east of Medellin.
England
LONDON — Britain's chief rabbi said he will not attend a major U.N. conference on racism because it risks succumbing to anti-Israeli bias. The announcement by Jonathan Sacks is another blow to plans for the Aug. 31-Sept. 7 conference, which has been plagued by numerous disputes, including a debate over reparations for slavery in the United States.
Japan
TOKYO — Three diplomats were reprimanded for embezzling public money, the latest punishments in a widening crackdown on diplomatic abuse. The three are accused of padding expenses while serving at Japan's embassy in Kenya between 1997 and 2000, said Kyoji Komachi, director general of the Foreign Minister's secretariat.
Northern Ireland
BELFAST — A senior Irish Republican Army suspect was arraigned on charges of trying to abduct and threatening to kill a Roman Catholic man in Belfast. Eddie Copeland, 31, was arrested after police confronted a four-member gang as they allegedly dragged a man from a betting shop in Ardoyne, a north Belfast neighborhood that is a major power base for the outlawed IRA.
Peru
LIMA — Prime Minister Roberto Danino, calling for consensus to get Peru's economy moving, fight poverty and strengthen democracy, scrapped a bid for special powers to push through tax and welfare reforms and instead asked Congress to pass them immediately.
Philippines
MANILA — Criminal charges were filed against eight more people after a blaze at a Philippine hotel killed 74 people and injured another 51. The charges of reckless endangerment resulting in multiple deaths and injuries now cover all management of the Manor Hotel, which caught fire Aug. 18 in the Manila suburb of Quezon City, said assistant prosecutor Alfredo Agcaoili.
Portugal
LISBON — A Canadian Air Transat airliner that was running out of fuel glided to an emergency landing in Portugal's Azores islands early on Friday, slightly injuring nine passengers, authorities said. The Airbus 330 flying from Toronto to Lisbon was forced to make the mid-Atlantic landing at the Azores' Lajes airport because it was losing fuel.
Saudi Arabia
RIYADH — A Saudi man was beheaded for raping boys, and an Indian man was beheaded for drug trafficking, the Interior Ministry said.
Scotland
EDINBURGH — A Libyan man who was cleared of carrying out the Lockerbie bombing called for the freeing of his compatriot who was jailed for life for the crime. Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, interviewed in Libya by The Scotsman newspaper, said he was convinced of the innocence of Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, who won permission Thursday to appeal his conviction.
Sri Lanka
COLOMBO — Nine Sri Lankan soldiers were listed as missing after Tamil Tiger guerrillas unsuccessfully tried to overrun their camp, sparking battles that left at least 15 dead on both sides, military officials said.
Venezuela
CARACAS — The nation's economy grew by 3.4 percent during the first half of 2001 over the same period a year ago, despite production cuts by the OPEC that affected the nation's key oil sector, President Hugo Chavez said.