In Brief

*VISIT – Four leading Palestinian officials prepared to visit ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in his hospital near here as accusations by his wife that they were planning a deathbed coup continued to swirl around them.

*JUSTICE – A US court halted a controversial military trial of Osama bin Laden’s former driver at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, saying the process was unfair and Salim Ahmed Hamdan had not been properly detained. *NUCLEAR – The world must take immediate action against the real threat of nuclear terrorism to prevent a September 11-style outrage, the head of the UN’s atomic energy watchdog agency warned.*DOLLAR – The US dollar disappeared from stores, hotels and restaurants in Cuba in what communist leader Fidel Castro has called a move to counter US attempts to stifle the island’s economy.*KIDNAP – Japanese officials arrived in North Korea for new talks on the fate of Japanese abducted during the Cold War as Tokyo warned of economic sanctions if the latest round did not yield progress.*QUAKE – Criminals are exploiting the chaos caused by Japan’s deadliest earthquake in a decade by stealing and defrauding vulnerable residents, particularly the elderly, police warned.*REFUGEES – The number of refugees around the world has dropped from about 20 million last year to 17,1 million this year, the UN refugee agency said.*UNREST – Thailand’s army said it was investigating a report that 40 people remained missing after a riot and the rounding up of Muslim protesters two weeks ago that left 87 people dead.- Nampa-AFP*NUCLEAR – The world must take immediate action against the real threat of nuclear terrorism to prevent a September 11-style outrage, the head of the UN’s atomic energy watchdog agency warned.*DOLLAR – The US dollar disappeared from stores, hotels and restaurants in Cuba in what communist leader Fidel Castro has called a move to counter US attempts to stifle the island’s economy. *KIDNAP – Japanese officials arrived in North Korea for new talks on the fate of Japanese abducted during the Cold War as Tokyo warned of economic sanctions if the latest round did not yield progress.*QUAKE – Criminals are exploiting the chaos caused by Japan’s deadliest earthquake in a decade by stealing and defrauding vulnerable residents, particularly the elderly, police warned.*REFUGEES – The number of refugees around the world has dropped from about 20 million last year to 17,1 million this year, the UN refugee agency said.*UNREST – Thailand’s army said it was investigating a report that 40 people remained missing after a riot and the rounding up of Muslim protesters two weeks ago that left 87 people dead.- Nampa-AFP