A Northwest Airlines flight carrying 144 passengers from San Diego to Minneapolis lost contact with air controllers for more than an hour and overflew its destination by 150 miles, officials said.

The National Transportation Safety Board said the two pilots of Flight 188, an Airbus A320, told authorities after landing safely on Wednesday night that they had become distracted during a "heated discussion about airline policy".

The NTSB said on Thursday it would review the plane's flight data and voice recorders and interview the pilots. Among other issues, investigators will explore crew fatigue to see if the pilots were tired.

Northwest is owned by Delta Air Lines, which said the pilots had been relieved from active flying pending completion of the NTSB investigation and an internal probe by Delta.

The plane was flying at 37,000 feet when it lost radio contact.

Flight 188 was 150 miles off course by the time the crew re-established communications and requested permission to turn around, officials said. (Reuters)

Killer aristocrat freed

The heir to the estate of Kenya's most famous white settler family was freed yesterday after spending more than three years in jail for killing a black poacher, in a case which inflamed tensions over land and race.

Tom Cholmondeley, the grandson of Lord Delamere who came to the east African nation from Britain a century ago, was found guilty of manslaughter in May for the 2006 shooting of Robert Njoya on the family's huge Rift Valley ranch.

It was the second such case against the Eton-educated aristocrat, who was also accused of killing a wildlife ranger in 2005. That case was dropped for lack of evidence, triggering a public outcry and suggestions by many Kenyans that their country still had different laws for rich and poor.

"Cholmondeley was picked up outside the main gate in the early hours of this morning by one of his friends," said one warder at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison who asked not to be named. "I processed him and then set him free." (Reuters)

German railway fined for spying

The German railway Deutschebahn will pay a 1.65-million-dollar fine for spying on staff, a spokesman said yesterday.

"Following this scandal we have made deep changes at the company to exclude such misappropriation in the future," a statement quoted Bahn chief Ruediger Gruge as adding.

The fine was levied by authorities in charge of protecting personal data for the city-state of Berlin, where Deutsche Bahn has its headquarters.

Railway officials have acknowledged reading staff e-mails to uncover evidence of possible malpractice in their dealings with railway suppliers.

Germany is very sensitive to questions of personal privacy and the affair led to the resignation in early February of Deutschebahn's former boss, Hartmut Mehdorn. (AFP)

Burglar busted by leech jailed

An Australian armed robber linked to his crime by blood left at the scene inside a leech was jailed for two years yesterday in what is believed to be a forensic world first.

Peter Alec Cannon, 54, admitted ransacking the house of an elderly woman and robbing her of $550 in 2001 after police matched his DNA to blood in a leech that bit him, which was found at the scene.

The leech, which was found beside a looted safe in the house, was the only evidence police had, and it took them eight years to catch Cannon.

He was sentenced to two years in prison by the Launceston Supreme Court in Tasmania, Australia's southernmost state. He must serve nine months before he is eligible for parole. (AFP)

US lawmakers extend 'hate crime' shield to gays

US lawmakers approved legislation that, for the first time, extends decades-old "hate crimes" protection to cover those physically attacked because of their sexual orientation.

The measure, attached to a $680 billion US defence spending Bill, cleared the US Senate by a 68-29 margin after sailing through the House of Representatives in a 281-146 ballot on October 8.

It now goes to President Barack Obama, who has vowed to sign the measure into law. His predecessor, George W. Bush, had opposed the measure.

"The action by Congress today to pass this vital legislation is a milestone in helping protect Americans from the most heinous bias-motivated violence," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.

As a result of the new measure, US law will forbid "hate crimes" based on a person's race, colour, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or mental or physical disability. (AFP)

Greece to repeal mask ban

Greece's new socialist government has decided to repeal a law making it an offence punishable by more than 10 years in jail to be masked in public protests, police said yesterday.

Interior Minister Michalis Chryssohoides and Justice Minister Charis Kastanides on Thursday submitted a report to the Cabinet with a view to repealing the law, the source said.

According to the law, wearing a hood or mask is an aggravating factor in public order offences.

Three people arrested on Saturday for being masked at an anti-racism protest in an Athens suburb were the first to be charged under the law. They have now been released, the source added.

The ban was introduced earlier this year by the former government of Costas Karamanlis in order to crack down on vandalism and urban unrest following riots triggered by the death of a teenager shot dead by a police officer in December 2008.

Prime Minister George Papandreou's socialists, who won elections earlier this month, opposed the ban when in opposition. (AFP)

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