VATICAN CITY

Pope cancels audiences after catching flu

Pope John Paul II has the flu, leading him to cancel scheduled audiences Monday, the Vatican said. It was the first time the pope skipped an audience due to illness since September 2003.

The frail 84-year-old pontiff came down with the illness Sunday, and doctors advised him to cut back on activities, papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said.

Vatican Radio described it as a mild case.

The Italian Health Ministry has recommended flu shots, particularly for the elderly, but it was not known if John Paul had one. Vatican officials refused to say, citing the pope’s right to privacy.

The Vatican makes brief announcements when the pope takes ill, but rarely provides details on the extent of the illness or any medicine he may be taking. He has Parkinson’s disease and crippling knee and hip ailments.

Iraq

Prisoners killed during riot at detention center

U.S. guards opened fire Monday on prisoners during a riot at the main detention facility for security detainees, killing four of them, the U.S. command said. Six other prisoners were injured.

The riot broke out shortly after noon at the Camp Bucca internment facility near Umm Qasr in southern Iraq after a routine search for contraband in one of the camp’s 10 compounds, the command said in a statement.

“The riot quickly spread to three additional compounds, with detainees throwing rocks and fashioning weapons from materials inside their living areas.” the statement said. “Guards attempted to calm the increasingly volatile situation using verbal warnings and, when that failed, by use of nonlethal force.”

The statement said the riot “resulted from both the use of force to control the situation and from violence by other detainees within the camp during the riot.”

The command said names of those who died were being provided to the Iraqi government and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Nepal

King assumes power, dismisses government

King Gyanendra dismissed Nepal’s government today and said he was taking control of the Himalayan kingdom — the second time he has done so in three years.

The monarch made the announcement over the state-run television, accusing the government of failing to conduct parliamentary elections and restoring peace in the country.

He denied his takeover was a coup, though soldiers surrounded the houses of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and other government leaders.

The monarch, who also is the supreme commander of the 78,000-strong Royal Nepalese Army, said security forces would be given more power to maintain law and order. But he insisted human rights would be respected.

Deuba also was fired as prime minister in October 2002, sparking mass street protests demanding the reinstatement of a democratically elected government.

The king reinstated Deuba last year with the task of having parliamentary elections by March 2005.

MIAMI

Judge rules captives denied due process

A federal judge Monday cleared the way for dozens of captives in Guantanamo Bay to sue for their freedom, saying the Pentagon has failed to provide due process to suspects held at the prison for up to three years.

U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green in Washington specifically cited torture allegations that have emerged since Guantanamo captives won the right to consult attorneys.

At issue was whether a Navy-run review panel set up last year to evaluate each prisoner’s status as an “enemy combatant” satisfied a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that detainees deserve a case-by-case review.