Arroyo is declared winner of election
PHILIPPINES
MANILA -- The Philippine Congress proclaimed incumbent Gloria Mapacagal Arroyo the winner of last month's presidential election early today after an all-night session. The opposition repeated claims that massive vote fraud stole the May 10 election from action film star Fernando Poe Jr. and warned of a ''people's power" revolt like the ones that toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 and President Joseph Estrada in 2001. Arroyo, a 57-year-old US-educated economist, is favored by businessmen. (Reuters)
WEST BANK
Egypt gives Arafat 2-month deadline
RAMALLAH -- Egypt gave Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat two months to make good on promises of reform if Cairo is to help Palestinians keep order in Gaza after an Israeli pullout, officials said yesterday. The deadline was delivered by Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman at a meeting in Arafat's battered West Bank headquarters. An Egyptian presence could help prevent a collapse into factional anarchy or an Islamist takeover of the Gaza Strip if Israel goes ahead with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's US-backed plan to withdraw troops and settlers. (Reuters)
RUSSIA
Injunction is lifted in oil giant tax case
MOSCOW -- A Moscow court lifted an injunction yesterday that would have prevented tax authorities from seizing oil giant Yukos's assets to pay for $3.4 billion in back taxes, news agencies reported. The decision by the Moscow Arbitration Court does not clear the way for collection of the money, which the Tax Ministry has claimed, saying Yukos garnered it through the improper use of onshore tax havens. The ruling does, however, move forward one leg of the complex legal actions against Yukos. The company's former chairman, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, is himself on trial on charges of fraud and tax evasion. (AP)
EGYPT
Mubarak is treated for a slipped disc
CAIRO -- President Hosni Mubarak is having physical therapy in Germany for a slipped disc before doctors resort to surgery, Egypt's minister of health said yesterday. Mohamed Awad Tag Eddin told state television that doctors attending Mubarak since he arrived Sunday in Munich decided to see first how he would respond to therapy. It had been announced earlier that Mubarak would have surgery. It is very rare for state media to report on the health of the 76-year-old president, and yesterday's broadcast seemed designed to counter rumors that Mubarak was seriously ill. (AP)
THE VATICAN
Arrests of bishops are condemned
VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican condemned yesterday recent arrests of Catholic bishops in China, calling them a violation of religious freedom. ''The Holy See feels deep pain for these actions, for which no explanation has been given," said a statement by Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls. The Vatican and China have no diplomatic relations, and Chinese authorities have long sought to suppress underground Catholic churches loyal to the pope. (AP)
GERMANY
Escaped gorilla frightens zoo visitors
BERLIN -- A male gorilla escaped from his cage in the Berlin zoo and sent terrified visitors running for cover, the zoo said yesterday. Eight-year-old Bokito, who weighs 286 pounds and stands more than 6 feet 6, climbed over the top of the glass wall surrounding his outside enclosure and roamed the zoo Tuesday. Berlin newspapers showed shaky photos of the gorilla taken by an 18-year-old visitor who recorded how Bokito was grabbed by two zookeepers and marched back to his enclosure. (Reuters) 