World digest 05/08/02

EgyptAir jet crashes in Tunisia; at least 18 dead

TUNIS, Tunisia -- Hindered by fog, rain and wind blowing from the Sahara desert, an EgyptAir plane with 62 people on board crashed Tuesday while trying to land near Tunis. Egyptian officials said there were at least 18 deaths, while Tunisia's national news agency said the death toll was at least 14.

EgyptAir issued a statement late Tuesday, however, saying 18 people had died and 25 were injured.

Viewed from a distance, the Boeing 737 looked largely intact, resting on a hill in a park about four miles from the Tunis-Carthage airport.

The control tower had lost contact with the plane a few seconds before the crash, just after a distress call from the pilot, according to the national news agency, TAP.

Mohamed Amine, head flight attendant, told The Associated Press that he believes "bad weather and bad visibility" were at the root of the accident.

Chinese jet crashes; little hope for survivors

BEIJING -- A Chinese airliner with 112 people aboard crashed Tuesday night into the water off northeastern China after the captain reported a fire in the cabin, the official Xinhua News Agency said. It said more than 60 bodies were found and that there was little chance anyone survived.

A witness said the plane, its lights darkened, circled several times before going down.

More than 30 rescue ships were reported headed toward the site of the crash -- the second in a month involving a Chinese passenger airliner -- but darkness was hampering efforts to find more bodies.

Prices falling for Himalayan climbers

KATMANDU, Nepal -- Nepal is slashing prices at Mount Everest to draw more climbers.

A solo climber will now pay $25,000 to scale the world's highest peak. That's $45,000 off the earlier expedition fee, $70,000.

"We have to compete with Tibet, China, India and Pakistan to attract climbers," Shankar Koirala, a senior tourism official, said Tuesday.

A two-member team can climb the 29,035-foot peak by doling out $40,000. The fee increases to $48,000 for a team of three, $56,000 for four and $60,000 for five.

For the first time, the Himalayan kingdom is allowing expeditions year-round. Earlier climbers were limited to eight months of the year.

Nepal accounts for eight of 14 Himalayan peaks that are higher than 26,000 feet.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth greeted by male streaker

LONDON -- One of Queen Elizabeth II's subjects greeted her in the nude Tuesday, streaking past the royal car during the monarch's Golden Jubilee tour.

The young man bared all to the queen and her husband, Prince Philip, as they drove through the northern England town of Newcastle.

The streaker appeared to pose for photographers before he was pounced on by at least four police officers who forced him to lie face down on the ground before covering him in coats.

Northumbria police later said the 27-year-old streaker, whom they identified only as an area resident, had been arrested for allegedly outraging public decency.

The queen is on a 15-week tour of Britain to mark her 50 years on the throne.

-- From wire reports