North Korea
Imprisoned American speaks to mom by phone
An American imprisoned in North Korea was allowed to speak to his mother by telephone, but Pyongyang's state media and his family provided few details and no clues whether he would be released.
North Korea's highest court sentenced Aijalon Mahli Gomes to eight years of hard labor and fined him $700,000 on April 6 for entering the country illegally and for an unspecified "hostile act."
Germany
Pigs digging for food find long-buried WWII weapon
BERLIN - German police say a couple of hungry pigs digging for food came nose-to-nose with a long-buried World War II anti-tank weapon.
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Police said Friday the two pigs found the single-shot "panzerfaust" on private land southwest of Dresden.
The pigs' owner secured the animals in their stall then called police, who were able to remove the weapon and destroy it.
Britain
Harry passes pilot exam
LONDON - Just call him Your Royal Fly-ness: Prince Harry has earned his wings, his office said Friday.
Harry, the younger son of Charles and the late Princess Diana, is known in the military simply as Lt. Harry Wales. Earlier this week he passed the final exams to become an army helicopter pilot.
Vietnam
Vietnam marks anniversary of Communist war victory
HO CHI MINH CITY - Vietnam marked the 35th anniversary of the Communist victory in the Vietnam War with a grand military parade Friday through the former Saigon, with the government basking more in its economic achievements than its historic military defeat of the United States.
The city is now named for Ho Chi Minh, the father of the revolution, but signs of the burgeoning market economy are everywhere, with Communist banners competing for space with corporate ads and logos.
Mexico
2 journalists rescued
OAXACA - Mexican authorities rescued two journalists Friday who had been stranded for nearly three days among feuding militants after a caravan of rights activists was caught in a deadly ambush.
Photographer David Cilia, who was shot in the attack, and reporter Erika Ramirez were escorted by police out of a remote Indian community, the scene of a violent dispute between rival political factions.
Pakistan
Abducted officer found dead
KARAM KOT - A former Pakistani intelligence officer sympathetic to al-Qaida and the Taliban was found shot dead Friday in a northwestern tribal region several weeks after he was abducted by a previously unknown militant group, officials and witnesses said.
Khalid Khawaja disappeared in late March with another ex-intelligence official called Sultan Amir Tarar and a filmmaker. There was no word on the fate of the two others.
The Associated Press
