Tokyo: Japan says vessel was N. Korean spy ship

Japan has determined that a ship it sunk in a gun battle last December was a North Korean spy vessel and intends to ask Pyongyang for an explanation.

Japanese Coast Guard ships fired on and sank the vessel in the East China Sea last December. It was salvaged last month.

“We have confirmed that the ship was North Korean,” transportation minister Chikage Ogi said Friday.

Officials said the boat contained weapons with North Korean markings, a pin bearing North Korean leader Kim Jong Il’s likeness and other evidence.

Chief Cabinet spokesman Yasuo Fukuda said Japan will ask for an explanation about what the boat was doing and seek assurances from Pyongyang that it doesn’t happen again.

Afghanistan: Zoo under fire for care of newly arrived animals

A leading animal protection group said Friday that animals sent by China to an Afghan zoo were in danger of suffering and “possibly even death” because of conditions in the zoo.

Zookeepers dismissed the claim, saying they had cared for animals in the past despite their nation’s problems.

After years of war and neglect that severely reduced its number of occupants, Kabul’s zoo on Wednesday received two lions, two bears, two deer, two pigs and a wolf from Beijing’s Badaling Safari World.

“The arrival of more animals is the last thing that Kabul Zoo needs right now as it is continuing to struggle to look after the few animals that remain there,” the London-based World Society for the Protection of Animals said in a statement.

Italy: Demonstrators march against war on Iraq

Protesters opposed to a U.S. military attack on Iraq climbed onto a terrace atop the British consulate in Venice on Saturday, while demonstrators in Rome handcuffed themselves outside the U.S. Embassy.

Marches in several Italian cities drew thousands of people who don’t want Washington to go to war against Baghdad as part of President Bush’s campaign against terrorism.

Protesters approached the lagoon-side consulate in Venice on boats and climbed up the side of the building, occupying the terrace for a while and shouting anti-war slogans.

In Rome, about 200 protesters gathered outside the U.S. Embassy. A few of the demonstrators linked themselves with handcuffs. Police watched, but no arrests were reported.