World Highlights

¤ More than two million Muslim pilgrims pelted stones at symbols of the devil in the second day of a sacred ritual yesterday amid tight security to avert stampedes during the haj pilgrimage. Pilgrims from all over the world gather in the holy city of Mecca each year for the five-day haj, which is a duty for every able-bodied Muslim at least once in a lifetime.

¤ At least 24 Haitians suffocated to death in the back of a van thought to have smuggled them into the Dominican Republic, local media reported yesterday. The bodies were found in the van by members of the Dominican armed forces, Radio Popular said. An army spokesman said the driver and owner of the van had been arrested and an investigation was underway.

¤ President Viktor Yushchenko accused Ukraine's Parliament yesterday of destabilising the country by sacking his government, a move that sent the local currency tumbling to its lowest in nine months. The vote was led by opposition MPs who analysts said were using anger over a costly gas deal last week with Russia to undermine Mr Yushchenko's supporters ahead of a March 26 parliamentary election.

¤ A court upheld bail for former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet yesterday after seven weeks of house arrest in one human rights case, but stripped him of immunity from prosecution in another. A three-judge panel of the Santiago Appeals Court affirmed an earlier ruling by Judge Victor Montiglio, who said Pinochet should be released from house arrest, and set bail at $19,000.

¤ A young man wielding a knife and shouting "Heil Hitler" ran amok in a synagogue in central Moscow yesterday, wounding eight people, witnesses said. A US, an Israeli and a Tajik citizen were among the eight wounded, Moscow Prosecutor Anatoly Zuyev said.

¤ A complete ban on smoking in all English pubs and clubs looks increasingly likely after the government said yesterday it would allow its lawmakers to vote according to conscience and not along party lines. The move averts a likely parliamentary revolt and possible defeat for Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose plans propose a smoking ban which would exempt pubs which do not serve food and private clubs. Many lawmakers in Mr Blair's Labour party, including some Cabinet members, want a total ban and surveys show most Britons support smoke-free pubs and bars.

¤ Militants attacked a gas field in troubled southwest Pakistan yesterday and 12 of them were killed in fighting with security forces, a senior government official said. Three soldiers were killed and three wounded in an earlier landmine blast in the region where separatist tribal fighters have been battling for control of resources for decades.

¤ Six Australians were killed and 25 others injured when a tourist bus overturned in heavy rain outside Cairo, Egypt's official Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported yesterday. The report said the passengers included Australian police officers and their families. It quoted a security official as saying five women and one man died in the accident, and that injuries were light to moderate.

¤ A Yemeni accused of being a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden went before a US military tribunal yesterday and said he would refuse a lawyer and boycott the hearing on war crimes charges. The case against Yemeni Ali Hamza al Bahlul, who has acknoweged that he is "from al Qaeda", is one of only a handful brought against inmates at the camp, where about 500 prisoners in the US war on terrorism have been held for years, most without being charged. The hearing began on the fourth anniversary of the camp's opening.