Royal law on hold in Japan
Caracas: US missionaries accused by President Chávez of espionage have abandoned their remote outposts among Venezuelan Indian tribes under a government order. The New Tribes Mission may try to overturn the presidential order in court. (AP)
‘Spies’ leave
Tokyo: The Japanese Prime Minister is suspending planned legislation to allow a woman to succeed to the throne, the Kyodo news agency said early today. Junichiro Koizumi had sought to revise the succession law because of the lack of male heirs among the Emperor’s grandchildren. However, Princess Kiko, the wife of the Crown Prince’s younger brother, is now pregnant. (AP)
Fugitive inquiry
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Belgrade: More than 50 former soldiers are being investigated for helping Ratko Mladic, a Bosnian Serb war crimes fugitive, to evade capture. The move follows mounting pressure on Serbia to capture the former military commander. (AFP)
Diplomat kidnap
Gaza City: Two masked gunmen kidnapped the Egyptian military attaché to the Palestinian Authority as he travelled in his car to the diplomatic mission. Hussam Almousaly was seized about 200m from his office, which is under 24-hour guard. (AP)
Case dismissed
Riga: A court dismissed a criminal case against Ilya Mashonkin, 90, a former Soviet security officer, for his alleged role in deporting hundreds of Latvians to Siberia in the late 1940s. His diminished mental condition precluded a trial. (AP)
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Tomb discovery
Cairo: Archaeologists from the US have uncovered a tomb in the Valley of the Kings, the first to be found there since Tutankhamun’s in 1922. The tomb from the 18th Dynasty included five mummies in intact sarcophagi and large storage jars. (AP)
Independence day
Wellington: Citizens of Tokelau, three coral atolls between New Zealand and Hawaii with 1,500 residents, begin voting tomorrow in a self-government referendum. Seized by Britain in 1889, it was handed to New Zealand to administer in 1926. (AP)
Light aircraft
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Hong Kong: Cathay Pacific will print its in-flight magazine on thinner paper and use lighter food trollies to try to cut fuel bills. It may also strip cargo aircraft of paint. The airline believes that the moves could save it HK$35 million (£2.6 million) a year. (AFP)