In Brief

FACE-OFF – US President George W.Bush and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were expected to face off at a distance over Middle East democracy and nuclear weapons when both addressed the United Nations yesterday.

* BOMB – Somalia’s weak government sought help yesterday in probing the country’s first-ever suicide bombing, an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate the interim president that officials pin on al-Qaeda. * OUTBREAK – Tampering is not suspected in an outbreak of E.coli linked to fresh spinach, US government health officials said Monday as they continued to probe the source of the contamination and warned consumers not to resume eating fresh spinach products.* SUNK – Acting on a tip-off from Indian authorities, Sri Lankan forces have sunk a ship believed to be ferrying arms and ammunition for Tamil Tigers rebels, a top defence source here said yesterday.The Sri Lankan military was able to intercept the vessel some 125 miles off the island’s coast because of the good intelligence which came from India, the source said.* MENACE – Hurricane Helene continued to gain strength as a major category three storm posing a potential threat to Bermuda later in the week, while a hurricane warning was issued for the Azores as hurricane Gordon intensified to category two.* PASSED ON – A Nigerian co-pilot, who initially survived a military air crash Sunday, died on his way to the hospital, bringing the death toll in the disaster to 13, said a defence spokesperson yesterday * ARREST – Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, facing the most serious challenge to his 28-year rule, announced yesterday the arrest of a “terrorist” – allegedly linked to his main election rival and to Osama bin Laden -accused of plotting attacks against US interests.* ACCEPTED – International Monetary Fund members overwhelmingly approved a plan on Monday to boost the voting power of China and three other emerging economic giants to better reflect their rise in the world economy.Nampa-AFP-AP-Reuters* OUTBREAK – Tampering is not suspected in an outbreak of E.coli linked to fresh spinach, US government health officials said Monday as they continued to probe the source of the contamination and warned consumers not to resume eating fresh spinach products.* SUNK – Acting on a tip-off from Indian authorities, Sri Lankan forces have sunk a ship believed to be ferrying arms and ammunition for Tamil Tigers rebels, a top defence source here said yesterday.The Sri Lankan military was able to intercept the vessel some 125 miles off the island’s coast because of the good intelligence which came from India, the source said.* MENACE – Hurricane Helene continued to gain strength as a major category three storm posing a potential threat to Bermuda later in the week, while a hurricane warning was issued for the Azores as hurricane Gordon intensified to category two.* PASSED ON – A Nigerian co-pilot, who initially survived a military air crash Sunday, died on his way to the hospital, bringing the death toll in the disaster to 13, said a defence spokesperson yesterday * ARREST – Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, facing the most serious challenge to his 28-year rule, announced yesterday the arrest of a “terrorist” – allegedly linked to his main election rival and to Osama bin Laden -accused of plotting attacks against US interests.* ACCEPTED – International Monetary Fund members overwhelmingly approved a plan on Monday to boost the voting power of China and three other emerging economic giants to better reflect their rise in the world economy.Nampa-AFP-AP-Reuters