Amnesty for 3 000 Libyan prisoners * TRIPOLI - Libya yesterday announced an amnesty for more than 3 000 prisoners, including Europeans and Africans, to mark the 39th anniversary of Muammar Gaddafi's rule.

UN official freed after Somalia abduction * MOGADISHU - The head of the UN refugee agency's office in Somalia, kidnapped more than two months ago from his home and shot in the neck and knee, said yesterday he had been freed by his abductors.

Dalai Lama in hospital with 'discomfort' * NEW DELHI - The Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, has been admitted to a hospital in India with "abdominal discomfort" but there was no cause for concern, doctors said yesterday.

Pakistani govt bus bombing kills 8 * PESHAWAR - A bomb struck a bus filled with Pakistani police and government workers as it crossed a bridge yesterday, sending the vehicle hurtling over the railing and into the riverbed below.

Thousands flee floods in eastern India * PATNA - Indian army troops helped evacuate more than 120 000 people from floods in eastern India, but more bad weather raised fears that rivers would to continue to overflow, officials said yesterday.

Tourists evacuate as Gustav nears Jamaica * KINGSTON - Tropical Storm Gustav surged toward hurricane force on yesterday as it drove toward Jamaica and aimed for the Cayman islands, prompting evacuations of tourists and offshore oil workers.

In its wake, impoverished Haitians scrambled for food.

Meanwhile, New Orleans kept nervous watch, three years after Katrina's destruction.

Asian alliance snubs Russian plea * DUSHANBE - China and several Central Asian nations rebuffed Russia's hopes of international support for its actions in Georgia, issuing a statement yesterday denouncing the use of force and calling for respect for every country's territorial integrity.

World News Headlines Of The Last 48 Hours

•  UN says Congo rebels pulling back 'in hundreds'
•  Doctors transplant windpipe
•  Rwandan suspect extradited to France
•  Tiny, long-lost primate rediscovered in Indonesia
•  Indian navy sinks pirate 'mother ship'
•  Mbeki to review Zimbabwe constitution bill
•  Pudgiest UK pets to slim
•  50 000 displaced by floods
•  Cholera threatens 1,4 million in Zim
•   Zim court drops two charges against oppositon leader
•  City threatens blind woman over unpaid 1-cent bill
•  Obama reaches out to Georgian leader
•  Rebels withdraw from DRC town
•  President-elect Obama eyes 'team of rivals'
•  International court to prosecute Congo's Thomas Lubanga