Foreign

Hijackers insist on release of prisoners
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- The hijackers of an Indian Airlines plane dropped demands yesterday for a ransom and the body of a Kashmiri militant in what could be a breakthrough in negotiations aimed at ending the six-day hijacking, the Taliban's fore...

Chechens report dozens killed
GROZNY Russia -- Chechen rebels said yesterday they had staged a "tactical" retreat in parts of Grozny while reporting dozens of their own and Russian fighters killed amid bitter street battles. Elite Russian forces in the rebel capital meanwhile...

Dutch to stage new year puff-in
ENSCHEDE, Netherlands -- Around 3000 members of the Dutch Federation of Cannabis Consumers (VEC) in Enschede plan to see in the new millennium with a metre-long joint, they said here yesterday. The VEC organised the smoke-in in part to protest ag...

UK economy back on track, says Blair
TRIMDON, England -- Prime Minister Tony Blair delivered his New Year's message to the nation yesterday, saying his government had achieved many of its goals but still had much to do, particu-larly in the areas of health, transportation and educati...

FLYING FIRE FIGHTER:
A helicopter makes a direct hit with its water bucket on a flare-up of a fire in the rugged San Gabriel mountains behind Arcadia, California. Over 300 hectares of scrub bush have been destroyed. (AP) Eastern Cape ...

Experts stand by in Lebanon
BEIRUT -- Four thousand computer technicians will be on standby in Lebanon on December 31 to monitor the changeover to the year 2000, Economy Minister Nasser Saidi said in remarks published in yesterday's press. A central operations room will co-...

GATHERING OF THE CLAN:
Maori men from Gisborne, New Zealand, push a canoe carrying a Cook Island elder who will join in the millennium celebrations in Gisborne. Various Pacific islanders have begun arriving in Gisborne, including a group from Cook Island on the opposit...

Soldiers told to write memoirs
BAGHDAD -- President Saddam Hussein has issued orders to Iraqi army officers to write down their war stories for posterity, yesterday's press reported. The 60 best works will receive a cash prize, Saddam was quoted as telling a group of officers ...

Ukraine's nuclear reactors 'ready'
KIEV -- All 14 reactors at the Ukraine's five nuclear power plants are ready to meet the new millennium, the Ukrainian energy producer Energoatom reported yesterday. Ten reactors are in operation and will not be stopped before the New Year, Energ...

Lone Ranger, 85, heads for the last round-up
LOS ANGELES -- Clayton Moore, the masked man who played the "Lone Ranger" on US television with the cry of "Hi-Yo, Silver!" has died. He was 85. Moore died of a heart attack in a Los Angeles hospital. Moore's film career stretched back to the 19...

Russia needs tough govt ­ PM
MOSCOW -- Russia needs a tough government to avoid sliding into the ranks of third-world countries, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in an article on the government's new web site. The cabinet went online this week, contemplating Russia's futu...

S American security beefed up for year end
MONTEVIDEO -- Up and down Latin America, governments have gone the extra mile to protect New Year's Eve revellers from terrorist attacks, crimes and street fights. Rio de Janeiro has beefed up security along its 35 kilometres of dazzling beaches ...

French count the cost of killer storms
PARIS -- Six thousand troops were deployed yesterday and the national electricity company brought workers out of retirement as France tapped all its resources in a bid to clean up and restore power to millions of homes after this week's killer st...

US says Iraq can't import bulls
BAGHDAD -- Iraq has expressed astonishment at a UN sanctions committee decision to block Baghdad importing 15 bulls on the grounds that they could have a military use. Iraq's UN representative has been asked to protest against the contract being ...

Iran halts surgery over Y2K
TEHRAN -- Iranian surgeons have been asked not to carry out any operations during the night of December 31 for fear of problems caused by the millennium computer bug, the Resalaat paper said here yesterday. Iran has already set up a crisis centre...

Gene therapy may replace hair dye
PARIS -- The hair-dye bottle may eventually be consigned to the scrap heap of history after researchers for the first time changed the fur colour on albino mice by using gene therapy. A team at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia made the c...

New 'black day' for Austria as avalanche kills 9
VIENNA -- Austria's Tyrol province admitted yesterday it had suffered a new "black day" after a second avalanche tragedy in under a year hit a small village, killing nine. While officials in the picturesque village of Galtuer put a brave face on ...

Zimbabwe elections delayed
HARARE -- The Zimbabwean government has postponed general elections until at least June next year from the initial date slated for March, a cabinet minister said yesterday. Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa told...