More world news in brief.
20 bodies found of coast near Bahamas
ATLANTA -Rescue crews recovered 20 bodies and three survivors off the coast of the Bahamas, the US Coast Guard said yesterday, after an apparent bid by migrants to flee their impoverished homelands.
The survivors, one Honduran and two Haitians, were found in the water screaming for help in darkness around 24km (15 miles) northwest of the Bahamas capital Nassau.
A crew member from the Lady in Red fishing boat heard cries in the water around 4:45am on Sunday and notified Bahamian authorities. - (Reuters)
Fake olive oil seized in Italy
BARI -Italian police have arrested 39 people and seized truckloads of fake olive oil destined for the United States, Germany and Switzerland to be sold at a large profit.
Police said yesterday they seized 25,000 litres (5,500 gallons) of the fake oil. The gang was adding flavouring and colourants to vegetable oil and slapping false labels on to bottles that claimed the contents were extra-virgin olive oil.
Random tests on olive oil, as well as suspicions raised by some Italian restaurateurs and retailers, had led police to make the discovery. - (Reuters)
Drug traffickers hanged in Iran
TEHRAN -Iran has hanged four people convicted of drug trafficking in the country's southeast, a news agency said yesterday, a week after Amnesty International listed the Islamic state as the world's second most prolific executioner in 2007.
The semi-official Fars News Agency said they were put to death in a prison in the city of Kerman, in a region known as a transit route for drugs smuggled from Afghanistan and Pakistan to Western markets. - (Reuters)
Teenage suspect in bomb plot
CHESTERFIELD -A hate-filled teenager collected enough supplies to kill dozens in a suicide bomb attack on his school, US police said yesterday.
Ryan Schallenberger (18), was arrested on Saturday after his parents called police when 10lbs of ammonium nitrate was delivered to their home in Chesterfield, South Carolina. Police chief Randall Lear said a diary kept by Schallenberger described plans to make several bombs and including maps of Chesterfield High School. - (AP)
Bond car in lake plunge
LAKE GARDA -The Aston Martin being used in the latest James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, plunged into a lake in northern Italy while being driven to the set.
Producers said the driver was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. They said it was being delivered to the filming unit in heavy rain on Saturday. - (AP)