World Scene
March 4, 2008
NETHERLANDS
Talks begin to air anti-Muslim film
THE HAGUE — A Dutch Cabinet minister postponed his trip to Somalia yesterday because of to "specific threats" linked to an anti-Muslim film by politician Geert Wilders.
The Dutch government has urged Mr. Wilders to scrap his film for the safety of its citizens abroad.
But Mr. Wilders said yesterday he has begun negotiations with Dutch broadcasters about airing the 15-minute film, "Fitna," which portrays the Koran as a "fascist" text that incites violence and preaches the oppression of women and homosexuals.
BRITAIN
Diana boyfriend didn't want marriage
LONDON — Princess Diana's heart-surgeon lover, Hasnat Khan, told the inquest into her death yesterday that he feared that marriage to one of the world's most famous women "would be hell because of who she was."
"I knew I would not be able to lead a normal life," Dr. Khan said in a highly personal statement to the inquest into the deaths of Diana and Dodi al-Fayed in a high-speed Paris car crash in August 1997.
Dr. Khan revealed that Diana decided to end their two-year relationship, during which they were hounded by the press and he was sent hate mail.
FRANCE
Sarkozy rating drops in poll
PARIS — Confidence in French President Nicolas Sarkozy is at its lowest since his May 2007 election, with voters dissatisfied with his style and the effectiveness of some of his key economic policies, a poll showed.
A week before the first round of municipal elections, the LH2 poll for Liberation newspaper released Sunday showed 37 percent expressed confidence in Mr. Sarkozy.
That compares with 41 percent in a survey a month ago and represents a steep decline from a high of 67 percent in July 2007. Mr. Sarkozy's ratings have slumped by 17 points since the start of the year.
MEXICO
Police, traffickers battle near border
TIJUANA — Mexican police and soldiers traded gunfire with drug gang suspects yesterday in a five-hour battle near the U.S. border that left a police officer and one of the suspects dead.
The shootout began at a house in a residential neighborhood of Tijuana, a drug smuggling hot spot across the border from San Diego. It started Sunday night and continued until early yesterday, police said.
President Felipe Calderon has sent thousands of troops and federal police to Tijuana and other cities in Baja California, Mexico's most violent state, to fight warring drug cartels and remove corrupt local police.
ITALY
Mystic priest's body exhumed, venerated
ROME — The remains of Padre Pio, a hugely popular Italian saint whose body is expected to go on public display later this year, have been exhumed, officials said yesterday.
Bishop Domenico D'Ambrosio, a Vatican-appointed envoy who oversaw the unearthing Sunday night, said the body was well-preserved.
Padre Pio, a mystic Capuchin monk who had an enormous following in Italy and abroad, died in 1968 after living for decades with inexplicable bleeding wounds on his hands and feet, like the wounds Jesus suffered at crucifixion. Pope John Paul II made him a saint in 2002.
Church officials wanted to exhume the body so the faithful can pray before it this year, the 40th anniversary of his death. They also wanted to take measures to ensure that it is well preserved.
EGYPT
Muslim brothers rounded up
CAIRO — Security forces detained dozens of members of Egypt's opposition Muslim Brotherhood in dawn sweeps yesterday, targeting men who are likely candidates in local council elections expected next month, the Brotherhood said.
The Islamist group said 68 persons were detained in raids on homes across Egypt, from the southern province of Qena to northern towns in the Nile Delta, where the Brotherhood has a strong popular base.
Egyptian security sources put the total number of Brotherhood arrests at 66 and said the men were accused of belonging to a banned group, possessing anti-government literature and organizing unauthorized meetings.
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