Norway

Crews try to contain freighter spill

Salvage crews worked Wednesday to limit the environmental damage from a freighter that capsized in an inlet along the west coast of Norway, killing 18 people.

Crews sought to contain oil and fuel leaking from the 544-foot MS Rocknes, which overturned Monday with 30 people on board. Twelve were rescued.

Ole Arvesen, spokesman for the Norwegian coastal service, said air was being pumped into the wreck to keep it afloat in their search for the bodies of the 15 who remain missing and presumed dead.

United Arab Emirates

Prince says government kidnapped him

A Saudi prince maintains he was kidnapped, drugged and flown home from Switzerland on orders from Saudi officials to stop him from pursuing an anti-corruption campaign.

Prince Sultan bin Turki, a nephew of King Fahd, called the Associated Press from his Riyadh home, where he said he had been confined for months.

Prince Sultan said he was taken from Switzerland in June after being lured to a meeting with two senior Saudi officials — Prince Abdul Aziz bin Fahd, a son of the king, and Islamic Affairs Minister Sheik Saleh al-Sheik.

An employee at the Interior Ministry said nobody there was available to comment.

Prince Sultan is known for speaking his mind on foreign and domestic issues.

Vietnam

Chickens exposed to bird flu sold

Fears over Asia’s bird flu outbreak spiraled Wednesday as worst-hit Vietnam said that nearly 900,000 chickens possibly exposed to the deadly virus had been sold to the public.

The disease may have spread to nearby Thailand — a major chicken exporter that has repeatedly insisted it is free of bird flu — where three people were being tested for the avian influenza. The government ordered a mass slaughter of fowl.

The bird flu ravaging poultry farms in Asia has killed five people, all in Vietnam, and millions of chickens. International health experts are trying to find a vaccine for humans.

Struggling to contain the epidemic, jittery governments have banned poultry imports from countries affected by the disease. Mainland China, which has not reported any cases, said it would step up vigilance at its border with Vietnam.