Japan: Koizumi’s Cabinet resigns

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s Cabinet resigned en masse today, paving the way for the him to name a new lineup in an effort to shore up his economic reform plans.

The 17 Cabinet ministers handed in their resignations during a morning Cabinet meeting at Koizumi’s official residence, according to Education Minister Atsuko Toyama. Koizumi was to name his new lineup later in the day, and they would then be formally approved by Emperor Akihito.

New Jersey: Bulgarian arrested at airport with boxcutters, scissors

A Bulgarian national was arrested Sunday at Atlantic City International Airport after federal screeners found a pair of scissors embedded in a bar of soap and two boxcutters in a lotion bottle in his backpack.

Nikolay Volodicv Dzhonev, 21, was charged with possession of a prohibited weapon. Egg Harbor Township police said Dzhonev was being held on $100,000 bail.

Dzhonev had a ticket for a flight from Atlantic City to Myrtle Beach, S.C., Transportation Security Administration spokesman Robert Johnson said. The one-way ticket was purchased over the Internet in August.

Jamaica: Tropical storm strengthens

Tropical Storm Lili set off severe flooding and damaged dozens of homes in Jamaica on Sunday while grazing southeastern Cuba, where thousands of people evacuated their homes in low-lying areas.

Lili was strengthening and could become a hurricane before hitting western Cuba on Tuesday, said Martin Nelson, lead forecaster at the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Forecasters warned Lili could strike the U.S. Gulf Coast by the end of the week. It was too early to predict where Lili would come ashore, but coastal residents from Texas to Florida should be on the alert for a direct hit as early as Friday.

Senegal: Toll jumps in ferry disaster

In long, solemn lines, thousands of people pored over photos Sunday of the bloated bodies from one of Africa’s deadliest ferry accidents, as the government said that nearly 1,000 people are now believed dead.

Only 64 people are known to have survived when the MS Joola capsized in heavy winds late Thursday off Africa’s West Coast. On Sunday, the government said that 1,034 people were on board the ship, sharply up from the 797 it had first announced.

Authorities planned today to finish an investigation into what caused the Senegalese state-run boat to sink off Gambia, a former English colony that divides north and south Senegal.