Foreign

Renewed bombing of Grozny
SHALI -- Russia yesterday renewed its bombardment of the Chechen capital Grozny, where tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped after a weekend ceasefire that allowed only a trickle to flee. As bombs fell, Russia poured troop reinforcements ...

Mattel sue over Barbie book
A SMALL Seattle publisher says she can't figure out why Mattel is suing over Adios, Barbie, a book of 28 essays by young women lamenting modern ideals of beauty and the female body. "We're just a small company with a staff of eight. We're not th...

Tiny isle legally Botwana's
NETHERLANDS -- A tiny, waterlogged and uninhabited island between two southern Africa neighbours belongs to Botswana, the World Court ruled yesterday. Kasikili-Sedudu Island, measuring about 3,5sq km in size and situated in the Chobe River, is a ...

Last stitch for knitting maestro
NEW YORK -- Elizabeth Zimmermann, whose best-known gift to knitting was a mathematical formula for figuring the proportions of sweaters and other garments, died on November 30 at a hospital in Marshfield, Wisconsin, where she lived. She was 89. B...

Double trouble as planes lock before landing
PLANT CITY, Florida -- A small plane coming in for a landing became wedged on top of another one 60 metres in the air, and the interlocked pair landed together without injury to any of the three people on board. The sight of the double-decker pla...

Six more planets found
WASHINGTON -- An international team of astronomers has discovered six more planets further away than any that have been found so far. The latest discoveries raise the number of known planets outside our solar system from 22 to 28, the American ...

Sodomist gets 30 years
NEW YORK -- A white, former patrolman was sentenced to 30 years in prison yesterday for an assault on a black immigrant that prosecutors called one of the worst acts of police brutality in the city's history. Justin Volpe could have faced life wi...

Sudanese premier denies coup d'état
KHARTOUM -- Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir said yesterday he had declared a state of emergency to end chaos similar to that of the regime he overthrew in 1989. Beshir declared a three-month state of emergency late on Sunday and announced the d...

IT'S A MUG'S GAME:
Taiwan's presidential candidates, from left, Hsu Hsin-liang, Chen Shui-bian, Lien Chan, James Soong and Li Ao, decorate Taiwanese soft-drink bottles in a Taipei store yesterday. Taiwan will hold presidential elections in March 2000. (AP) ...

Unita assailed from Namibia
WINDHOEK -- Namibia has given the Angolan army permission to launch attacks from its soil onto strongholds of the rebel movement Unita in the southeastern Angolan province Cuando Cubango. The government has reportedly scored major gains recently,...

Fuel shortage crisis in Zim
HARARE -- Some petrol stations ran dry and others rationed supplies as fuel shortages began to bite in Zimbabwe yesterday. Zimbabwe's private sector launched a desperate bid to raise about R42 million for a shipload of fuel to be sent from Durban...