UNITED NATIONS

Ex-prosecutor named new human rights chief

Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed former chief war crimes prosecutor Louise Arbour on Friday to the U.N.’s top human rights post, a choice welcomed by human rights advocates.

Arbour, currently a Supreme Court justice in her native Canada, will take over as U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights if the General Assembly approves the appointment. U.N. diplomats said no opposition was expected.

Norway

Public outraged at video of soldiers shooting dog

A videotape set to music of Norwegian peacekeepers in Kosovo shooting dogs drew furious reactions Friday in their homeland.

During the video, a soldier is shown shooting a dog at long range with a rifle, and another peacekeeper appeared to empty his pistol into it at close range as the animal writhed in agony. It also shows a dog on a leash being shot.

“We see this as very serious and want to get to the bottom of it,” said spokesman Cmdr. Thom Knustad.

The video was circulated among Norwegian Kosovo veterans and others by e-mail, and was posted on the Internet by Norway’s largest newspaper, Verdens Gang.

The newspaper said the video was believed to have been recorded in March 2002.

JERUSALEM

Archaeologists find 2,500-year-old jewelry

Israeli archaeologists excavating caves near the Dead Sea discovered jewelry, a makeup kit and a small mirror — 2,500-year-old fashion accessories for women.

The trove apparently belonged to Jews who returned from exile in Babylon in the sixth century B.C., said Tsvika Tsuk, chief archaeologist for the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.

Using metal detectors, archaeologists found the treasures under a stonelike accumulation of sediment thrown up by a nearby spring. They included a necklace made of 130 beads of semiprecious stones and gold; a scarab; and an agate medallion of Babylonian origin.

Germany

Police official charged with ordering threats

A top city police official was charged Friday with ordering threats of “intense pain” against a suspect being questioned for the 2002 kidnapping and slaying of a prominent German banker’s 11-year-old son.

Frankfurt prosecutors charged deputy police chief Wolfgang Daschner, 60, who last year admitted using the threat of violence in a desperate attempt to save the boy.

Daschner had ordered the officer interrogating suspect Magnus Gaefgen to threaten him with “intense pain” after hours of questioning.