Serial rapist faces death
Tehran: An Iranian has been sentenced to death for kidnapping and raping an estimated 340 girls. “Along with my wife I used to hunt girls under 12 years old,” the man, identified only as Behrouz, 33, was quoted as confessing. “I used to threaten them to hand over their gold and I raped some of them. I do not remember, but I think I kidnapped more than 300 girls.” His wife was given an unspecified jail term for assisting him. (AFP)
Bus accident
Stockholm: A tour bus slid off a road and rolled over into a snow-filled ditch in central Sweden, killing at least eight people and injuring 45. The accident happened on an icy road in strong winds near Arboga, 60 miles west of Stockholm. (AP)
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No parking at Ford
Dearborn: Ford has banned cars made by competitors from its car park at the Dearborn Truck Plant in Michigan. The move came as the company announced 30,000 job cuts and axed 14 facilities. Ford lost $1.6 billion (£903 million) in the US last year. (AP)
Trial about Jesus
Viterbo: A 75-year-old Italian parish priest may go on trial for asserting the existence of Christ. Luigi Cascioli, 72, the author of The Fable of Christ, seeks to prosecute Father Enrico Righi for “misleading the public by presenting Jesus as an historical figure”. (AFP)
Former leader dies
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Berlin: Johannes Rau, the former German President, who urged his country to open up to foreigners and promoted deeper ties with Israel, died at his home yesterday. He was 75. The cause of death was not known.
HIV blood alert
Beijing: An unnamed man infected 24 people with HIV by selling his blood to a hospital in Dehui in northeast China, the state media said. Eight patients have died. The man also infected two sexual partners, one of whom infected her husband. (AFP)
Director’s guilt
Budapest: The Oscar-winning Hungarian film director Istvan Szabo has admitted being an informer for the Communist authorities from 1957, when he was 19, until 1961. He said that he did it to save a friend who had taken up arms during the failed 1956 uprising. (AFP)