Australia
Rainfall eases fire crisis
Heavy rain fell in parts of Australia for the first time in more than two weeks, dousing flames today after weary crews of volunteers had fought fire with fire, setting controlled burns to block blazes.
Up to 2 inches of rain fell overnight, mainly in the Blue Mountains national park 50 miles west of Sydney. Officials said wildfires that had raced through the area since Dec. 24 had now been reduced to smoldering embers.
However, they said that rain had not fallen in all affected areas and that the crisis in New South Wales state was not over.
Weather forecasters said that the rain showers broke an 18-day dry spell. They warned, though, that high temperatures approaching 100 could return later today, bringing dry Outback winds that could help rekindle fires.
Bosnia
Former ambassador's extradition sought
Bosnian authorities have asked the United States to extradite the Balkan country's former ambassador to the United Nations to face criminal charges at home, a newspaper reported Sunday.
Muhamed Sacirbey is accused of embezzling $610,980 from Bosnia's U.N. mission in 2000, when he was serving as ambassador, the Sarajevo daily Dnevni Avaz quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Ivica Misic as saying.
The Foreign Ministry filed criminal charges in March and now has requested, through Interpol, that the United States extradite him.
Sacirbey is a U.S. citizen and is believed to be living in the United States, but Bosnian authorities said they did not have his address.
"It is up to the U.S. legal institutions now to try to find a solution which will satisfy justice. We believe they will regard our request for extradition as justified," Misic was quoted as saying.
Italy
Premier names himself interim foreign minister
Premier Silvio Berlusconi named himself interim foreign minister Sunday and proclaimed himself pro-European amid concerns that Italy would grow more isolated following the resignation of its respected foreign envoy.
Foreign Minister Renato Ruggiero quit Saturday after eight months of fractious relations with the conservative government over European policy and a dispute with Berlusconi over his coalition's unenthusiastic reception of the euro currency.
Berlusconi sought Sunday to assure his European allies that Italy's foreign policy would support further political and military cooperation in Europe even without the pro-EU Ruggiero in the ministry.
"For us, Europe is an ideal. It's an ambition, a desire and a necessity," Berlusconi said. Italy's foreign policy would convincingly and "intrinsically support Europeanism," he said, adding that he would remain interim foreign minister "for as long as necessary."
Sierra Leone
U.N. says most fighters from civil war disarmed
Most fighters in Sierra Leone's brutal civil war have turned over their weapons to peacekeepers in a disarmament program aimed at securing peace in the volatile West African nation, a senior U.N. official said Sunday.
The disarmament phase officially ended Saturday, but several hundred combatants were expected to continue handing over their arms on Sunday and today, said Maj. Gen. Martin Luther Agwai, the acting commander of the U.N. peacekeeping force.
After the remaining fighters lay down their weapons, about 45,000 rebels and pro-government militiamen will have been disarmed, Agwai said.
The U.N.-sponsored program, crucial to ending a decade of fighting, has taken in 1.5 million rounds of ammunition and thousands of weapons, including rifles, mortars and anti-aircraft guns since it began earlier this year.
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.