World highlights

¤ A moderate earthquake jolted Tokyo and its vicinity yesterday afternoon, causing buildings in the capital to shake, but no tsunami warning was issued and there were no immediate reports of damage. Japan's Meteorological Agency said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 5.1 and was centred in southern Ibaraki prefecture, north of Tokyo. The earthquake's focus was 40 kilometres underground.

¤ Three days before Saddam Hussein goes on trial for crimes against humanity, human rights groups have raised profound concerns about the independence of the court trying him and whether it meets international standards. Among other issues, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have expressed unease about limits on the ability of the accused to mount a defence, the burden of proof, political sway over the court and use of the death penalty. Questions also surround the fact the Iraqi government has passed new laws governing the court, but has not yet brought them into force.

¤ Palestinian gunmen killed three Israelis in a drive-by shooting and Israeli soldiers shot dead a senior Palestinian militant in an eruption of violence in the occupied West Bank yesterday. The killings a month after Israel completed a pull-out from the Gaza Strip tore at a flimsy ceasefire and raised fears of a resurgence in violence in the West Bank where Jewish settlements continue to grow on land Palestinians want for a state.

¤ Former European Commission President Romano Prodi took a first step in his campaign to oust Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi yesterday with nationwide opposition primaries he was widely expected to win. Turnout was high for the first vote of its kind in Italy, which will choose the centre-left leader to head the opposition ticket in a general election due by May 2006.

¤ Masked gunmen shot dead an Italian politician of the centre-left in the southern Calabria region yesterday, police said. The gunmen stalked Calabria's vice president, Francesco Fortugno, to a voting booth where he cast his vote in a ballot to choose who will lead the centre-left in next year's general election. The gunmen shot him five times as he left the voting booth.