World briefs 9/29/05

China releases prominent Protestant church activist

SHANGHAI, China -- A prominent activist in China's underground Protestant church has been released from a labor camp after serving a two-year sentence, a U.S.-based monitoring group reported Wednesday. Zhang Yinan, 47, left a camp near the central China city of Zhengzhou on Sunday, according to the China Aid Association, headquartered in Midland, Texas. China's officially atheistic Communist authorities allow worship only in tightly controlled state churches, and those who meet outside are routinely harassed and fined, and sometimes sent to labor camps.

Brazilian police arrest five in $70 million bank heist

SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Brazilian police recovered about $4.3 million of the $70 million stolen last month in a heist from Brazil's Central Bank, making five arrests Wednesday in one of the world's biggest bank robberies. Authorities raided a middle-class home in the northeastern city of Fortaleza, where the bank heist occurred, and found the money hidden in a hole in the floor, federal police said in a statement. Police were still counting the money, but spokeswoman Patricia Ferreira said the initial estimate was that $4.3 million had been recovered. Five suspects were taken into custody Wednesday. Three other suspects were arrested eight days ago. The thieves spent three months tunneling under a busy city avenue in Fortaleza to break into the Central Bank vault and steal the equivalent of $70 million in Brazilian currency. The heist took place sometime during the weekend of Aug. 6-8.

Ukrainian authorities find radioactive material

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian authorities found radioactive material believed stolen from the now-defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant a decade ago, an official said Wednesday. Security officers discovered a plastic bag with 14 pieces of nuclear fuel during a routine search of the damaged reactor's perimeter last week, said plant spokesman Stanislav Shektela. The pieces included part of a fuel rod and small pipes. He said the radioactive material "was probably missing since 1995," when a group of people was arrested and convicted of stealing nuclear fuel from the destroyed reactor's central hall. Experts are now trying to positively identify the material while police investigate, Shektela said. The material was probably left in the compound when additional security measures to detect radiation were installed, Shektela said.

FBI joins investigation into Lebanon bombing

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- FBI agents sifted through the debris Wednesday of the latest in a spate of bombings in Lebanon, American involvement certain to unnerve Syria as it comes under stepped-up U.S. pressure to stay out of its neighbor's business. Until now, Lebanon had shied away from seeking direct U.S. assistance, although federal agents investigated a bombing in June and a U.N. probe is underway in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri. But the difficulty the government has encountered in identifying those behind the explosions since Hariri's murder in February has led authorities to turn to Washington for help. Not a single arrest has been made in connection with the blasts.

-- From wire reports