Dissident freed after 18 months

cuba
HAVANA -- Cuba released dissident lawyer Rene Gomez Manzano yesterday after holding him in jail for 18 months with no charges, a fellow dissident said. The outspoken critic of Cuba's communist government was arrested in his home July 22, 2005, for allegedly planning to take part in a protest outside the French Embassy in Havana. Gomez Manzano is the fourth jailed dissident to be released since Cuban leader Fidel Castro relinquished power temporarily to his brother following emergency surgery in late July. (Reuters)

argentina

BUENOS AIRES -- Three rare white tiger cubs delighted visitors at the Buenos Aires zoo yesterday, tumbling in the grass of their enclosure in their first public appearance since being born late last year. Zookeepers said the birth of the blue-eyed Bengal tiger triplets represented an important contribution to saving the animals from extinction. "There are only about 250, not even 300, animals of this variety in captivity, so every birth in the Buenos Aires zoo contributes to saving this type of Bengal tiger," chief veterinarian Miguel Rivolta said. (Reuters)

turkey

DIYARBAKIR -- Officials confirmed an outbreak of bird flu in southeast Turkey yesterday, a year after the H5N1 strain of the disease killed four children in the region. The Agriculture Ministry said 170 chickens had died of bird flu in Bogazkoy village, in the province of Batman. The ministry said it believed wild birds had spread the disease. Three children with flulike symptoms were hospitalized for observation as a precaution, officials said. "We have put under quarantine an area of three square kilometers," Governor Haluk Imga of Batman said. Veterinary specialists were carrying out tests to determine whether the virus was the H5N1 strain. (Reuters)