Australia
SYDNEY — A would-be hijacker armed with wooden stakes stabbed two flight attendants as he tried to break into the cockpit of an Australian jetliner today, apparently in an attempt to crash the plane, the government said. Cabin crew and passengers on the domestic flight carrying 53 people overpowered and disarmed the man.
Britain
LONDON — An Iranian refugee who had his eyes and lips sewn shut to protest his planned deportation has won a bid for asylum but will continue a hunger strike on behalf of other asylum seekers, his lawyer said today. An independent tribunal upheld refugee status to Abas Amini, who said he faced torture if returned to Iran, said his lawyer.
Cambodia
PHNOM PENH — Authorities in Cambodia said Wednesday that they closed a Saudi-funded religious school and arrested three foreigners with links to the terror group suspected in deadly bombings on the resort island of Bali. The arrests, prompted by a tip from U.S. officials, came about two weeks before Secretary of State Colin Powell is to attend a meeting of Asian-Pacific Cabinet ministers in Cambodia.
Canada
TORONTO — Seven hundred more cattle will be killed for testing by Canadian investigators trying to eliminate suspicions that mad cow disease exists beyond a lone infected cow, officials said Wednesday. A ban on Canadian beef imports has halted sales and slowed production in an industry worth $22 billion to the Canadian economy.
Colombia
BOGOTA — A Colombian rebel suspected in the murders of three Americans was flown under heavy security to the United States Wednesday — the first guerrilla extradited by Colombia to face U.S. justice. Nelson Vargas Rueda, a member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, has been accused in the 1999 execution-style murders of Terence Freitas, 24, of Los Angeles; Ingrid Washinawatok, 41, of New York City; and Lahe'ena'e Gay, 39, of Pahoa, Hawaii.
Honduras
TEGUCIGALPA — Honduras said it has suspended AT&T Corp.'s use of the country's phone lines because the telecommunications giant owes the government $25 million in unpaid rental fees for using the lines and circuits since 1982.
Iran
TEHRAN — Iran's supreme leader on Wednesday said the United States was fomenting tension in Iran and vowed not to give in to American arrogance, state-run television said.
Mexico
MEXICO CITY — A former priest who faced U.S. charges of child sex abuse left two signed notes apologizing for his actions before leaping to his death from a Mazatlan hotel, the Attorney General's Office said Wednesday. Sigfried Widera, 62, was charged with 42 counts of child molestation in Wisconsin and California.
Morocco
RABAT — Authorities arrested a man suspected of coordinating the bombings in Casablanca that killed 31 people, but he died in custody, judicial officials said Wednesday. Alaoui Belghiti, the prosecutor general of the appeals court of Casablanca, said the suspect, "Abdelhak" or "Moul Sebbat," suffered from heart disease and died while being transferred to a hospital.
Netherlands
AMSTERDAM — Under a new ban on smoking in public places, Dutch coffee shops would be allowed to continue selling marijuana joints, but customers would have to go outside to smoke them. The broad national health guidelines due to take effect next January seem to have inadvertently struck at the heart of the liberal Dutch drug policy.
Peru
LIMA — Following weeks of widespread strikes and growing unrest, Peruvian soldiers and police forcibly removed farmers from highway roadblocks and teachers from the entrance to the national Congress on Wednesday after President Alejandro Toledo declared a 30-day state of emergency.
United Nations
France asked for U.N. approval Wednesday to deploy an international force in northeastern Congo where an upsurge in ethnic violence and atrocities has killed nearly 400 people. If the Security Council approves the resolution on Friday, the first troops would arrive in Bunia next week.