Militants in Malaysia admit to Afghan training

TAIPING, Malaysia -- Suspected Islamic militants detained for months in Malaysia confessed for the first time Tuesday to weapons training in Afghanistan and trying to help Muslim separatist in Southeast Asia.

Many of their comrades remained at large, they said at the start of an inquiry by Malaysia's human rights commission into conditions at the Kamunting prison camp in northern Malaysia, where suspects are jailed under the Internal Security Act. The act allows for indefinite detention without trial.

The detainees said they had been well treated and were innocent, claiming they had never threatened Malaysia's security.

Prince's watercolors sell for $30,000 at auction

LONDON -- Three watercolors painted by Prince Charles fetched $30,000 at an auction Tuesday.

Auctioneers Fellows & Sons in Birmingham said about 100 people competed for the paintings, with collectors and dealers from the United States and Canada making telephone bids.

One anonymous buyer from Stourbridge, central England, bought a 1989 view of the royal family's Balmoral estate in Scotland for $10,800.

A 1987 winter scene of the royal estate Sandringham in southern England went for $10,800 and a view of Ben Avon in Scotland painted in 1989 sold for $8,900. They were both bought by an unidentified agent.

Shrinking global tourism blamed on terror fears

MADRID, Spain -- Revenue from international tourism shrank 2.6 percent last year because the Sept. 11 attacks "severely aggravated" the impact of a global economic slowdown, the World Tourism Organization said Tuesday.

The United States was among the hardest-hit countries, with its earnings from foreign tourists falling by 11.9 percent and the total number of visitors from abroad dipping 10.6 percent.

But the organization said the tourism sector would return to growth by the end of this year.

--From wire reports