World digest 11/26/05

Japanese probe lands on asteroid to take samples

TOKYO -- A Japanese spacecraft briefly touched down on an asteroid and apparently succeeded in collecting surface samples, Japan's space agency said. The Hayabusa probe touched down for only a few seconds but long enough to be able to collect powdery material from its surface, said Kiyotaka Yashiro, a spokesman for JAXA, Japan's space agency. Officials will know if the mission fully succeeded after scientists examine the data, expected much later today.

Former Chad dictator freed after court ruling

DAKAR, Senegal -- Chad's former dictator was freed Friday after a Senegalese court said it had no jurisdiction to rule on his extradition to Belgium to stand trial for war crimes. Presiding Judge Lamine Coulibaly said the court "was not competent to rule on the extradition order" for the former dictator Hissene Habre. Belgium had issued an international arrest warrant for Habre under its "universal jurisdiction" laws, which allow for prosecutions for crimes against humanity wherever they were committed. A commission set up in Chad in 1992 accused his regime of 40,000 political killings and 200,000 cases of torture.

French police to get bonuses for fighting riots

PARIS -- Thousands of French police, who came under fire from bullets, Molotov cocktails and rocks thrown by angry youths in France's worst civil unrest in decades, will receive bonus pay for their efforts to quell the violence, a top police union official said Friday. About 22,000 officers will receive additional payments of $350 each, according to Jean-Yves Bugelli, assistant secretary general of the Alliance police union. The three weeks of car burnings, vandalism and clashes between youths and officers erupted in impoverished suburban housing projects that are home to many immigrants and their French-born children.

U.N. to question Syrians in assassination probe

DAMASCUS, Syria -- Syria has agreed to allow its officials to be questioned at U.N. offices in Vienna by investigators probing the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a top diplomat said Friday. Syrian deputy foreign minister Walid Moallem told a news conference that the breakthrough in negotiations with the United Nations came after Syria received "guarantees concerning the rights of the individuals" to be questioned and "reassurances" that its sovereignty would be respected. A U.N. commission mandated by the Security Council is investigating the death of Hariri, who was killed in a massive truck bombing in Beirut on Feb. 14. The commission issued an interim report last month that implicated Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services in the assassination.

Thousands march, strike over budget cuts in Italy

ROME -- Tens of thousands of demonstrators thronged major Italian cities Friday to protest planned government budget cuts, rallying in support of a general strike that snarled transport and closed down public offices across the country. Demonstrators voiced anger at billions of dollars in spending cuts that Premier Silvio Berlusconi's center-right government has included in the 2006 budget plan as it struggles to contain a deficit amid sluggish economic growth. The strike -- the second against a budget in as many years -- shut down post offices, banks and public offices for all or part of the day.

Fenced-in Palestinians open a gate to the world

RAFAH TERMINAL, Gaza Strip -- Palestinians took control of a border for the first time Friday with the festive opening of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, a milestone on their rocky path to independence and a rare moment of joy for fenced-in Gazans. The inauguration of the crossing, attended by scores of local and international dignitaries, was hailed as the beginning of a new era for Palestinians and especially the people of the Gaza Strip, badly demoralized after five years of bloody fighting with Israel. The opening of the border -- under an agreement with Israel -- bolstered Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' message that independence can only be won through negotiations and gave him a boost ahead of Jan. 25 parliamentary polls.

-- From wire reports