Havana: Hijacking attempt thwarted

A man claiming to have two grenades tried to hijack a passenger plane from Cuba’s small Isle of Youth to the United States late Monday, but was forced to land in Havana because of insufficient fuel.

Cuban authorities were negotiating with the man, who was on board the grounded Soviet-made AN-24 plane along with 46 other people. At midnight CST Monday, the twin-engine plane remained parked on the tarmac on a remote runway.

A government statement said the plane was on a regular flight from the Isle of Youth’s main city of Nueva Gerona when the pilot reported it was being hijacked to the United States by a man armed with grenades.

Tokyo: North Korea fires missile after Japan’s satellite launch

North Korea test-fired an anti-ship missile today off its west coast in an apparent response to Japan’s launching of spy satellites to monitor the communist nation, officials said.

The North Korean test of the short-range, ground-to-ship missile came just days after Japan launched two satellites into orbit to keep watch over Pyongyang’s missile and suspected nuclear arms programs.

The satellite launch angered the communist state, which threatened to test-fire a missile.

The range of the missile is about 37 miles. In Washington, a Pentagon official confirmed the launch but said the United States does not view it as a threat.

Maryland: Gates Foundation pledges $60 million to AIDS effort

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledged $60 million Monday toward the development of experimental creams designed to prevent the transmission of the AIDS virus among women in developing countries.

The donation to the International Partnership for Microbicides, based in suburban Silver Spring, is an endorsement of the budding field of microbicides, which doctors say puts AIDS prevention directly in the hands of women.

Microbicides, which have been under development since the late 1980s, are gels, films, foams and sponges applied topically to block the AIDS-causing virus HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.