International Briefs

* WILD WEATHER – Powerful Hurricane Lane slammed into a sparsely populated stretch of Mexico’s Pacific coast south of the city of Culiacan after its winds and rain flooded streets and knocked out power in parts of the resort of Mazatlan.

* ATTACK – An elderly Italian nun was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen at a hospital in the Somali capital yesterday, witnesses and medical workers said. The attackers entered the SOS Hospital in southern Mogadishu’s Huriwa District and opened fire on the nun before escaping in the ensuing confusion, they said.* NO CHARGE – Police in Scotland said yesterday they had investigated the wife of Prime Minister Tony Blair over allegations she made a slapping gesture at a 17-year-old boy.Strathclyde Police said the investigation was closed and no charges would be laid.* FREE THEM – An international press freedom watchdog has urged Eritrea to free 13 journalists who have been held “incommunicado” in secret jails for the past five years without trial.* TIGHTEN UP – A lawmaker in Prime Minister John Howard’s conservative government on Sunday recommended tightening Australia’s citizenship requirements, saying the national identity was under threat.* SLAMMED – South Africa’s government long ignored warnings about drug-resistant tuberculosis, putting millions of HIV-positive people at risk now that a dangerous new strain of TB has emerged, AIDS activists say.South African officials have scrambled to react to news this month that extremely drugs resistant tuberculosis, or XDR-TB, has killed at least 60 people in KwaZulu-Natal and is likely spreading, with at least one case found in Johannesburg.* NEW BOND – Forget the martini – give Bond a beer.That could be the rallying cry in the upcoming 007 movie, Casino Royale, in which the suave British super-spy is set to drop his exclusive taste for martinis and instead take up some plebeian beer-swilling, according to the Hollywood Reporter Friday.Nampa-AFP-AP-Reuters-SapaThe attackers entered the SOS Hospital in southern Mogadishu’s Huriwa District and opened fire on the nun before escaping in the ensuing confusion, they said. * NO CHARGE – Police in Scotland said yesterday they had investigated the wife of Prime Minister Tony Blair over allegations she made a slapping gesture at a 17-year-old boy.Strathclyde Police said the investigation was closed and no charges would be laid.* FREE THEM – An international press freedom watchdog has urged Eritrea to free 13 journalists who have been held “incommunicado” in secret jails for the past five years without trial.* TIGHTEN UP – A lawmaker in Prime Minister John Howard’s conservative government on Sunday recommended tightening Australia’s citizenship requirements, saying the national identity was under threat.* SLAMMED – South Africa’s government long ignored warnings about drug-resistant tuberculosis, putting millions of HIV-positive people at risk now that a dangerous new strain of TB has emerged, AIDS activists say.South African officials have scrambled to react to news this month that extremely drugs resistant tuberculosis, or XDR-TB, has killed at least 60 people in KwaZulu-Natal and is likely spreading, with at least one case found in Johannesburg.* NEW BOND – Forget the martini – give Bond a beer.That could be the rallying cry in the upcoming 007 movie, Casino Royale, in which the suave British super-spy is set to drop his exclusive taste for martinis and instead take up some plebeian beer-swilling, according to the Hollywood Reporter Friday.Nampa-AFP-AP-Reuters-Sapa