World Briefs

At least 16 people were killed when floodwater tore through a campsite in Arkansas, US officials said yesterday.

The flood also washed away records of who was there, making the daunting search for dozens missing in heavily wooded forest even more difficult as anguished families waited for word of their loved ones.

Rescue crews planned to resume their search yesterday morning in the Ouachita National Forest, where heavy rain caused the normally quiet Caddo and Little Missouri rivers to burst their banks early on Friday. The search is expected to take several more days - and perhaps even weeks. (PA)

Alleged Mossad spy 'arrested in Poland'

Polish authorities have arrested an alleged Mossad spy from Israel, wanted in connection with the killing of a Hamas agent in Dubai, the German federal prosecutor's office said yesterday.

A man using the name of Uri Brodsky is suspected of working for a foreign spy agency in Germany and helping issue a fake German passport to a member of the Mossad hit squad allegedly behind the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in January, the German spokesman told Associated Press. (PA)

£1.8m Buffett lunch breaks eBay record

A lunch with US billionaire investor Warren Buffett has broken the previous record for the most expensive charity item ever sold on eBay.

The winning bid of £1.8m was announced on Friday night after this year's online charity auction ended at 3.30 a.m. The amount beats the £1.4m bid in a previous Buffett lunch auction in 2008.

Robert Chatwani, director of global citizenship for eBay, said it's the "largest ever single auction for charity that's been sold on eBay" in its 15-year history. (PA)

1.3 m flee as 155 die in China floods

Unusually heavy seasonal flooding in China has killed at least 155 people and forced more than a million to flee as water levels in some areas reached their highest for over a decade, the government said yesterday.

Direct economic losses total $6.5 billion, with large swathes of the country's south-east hit especially hard, according to the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

Virtually all of the country's major rivers were swollen, while water levels in lakes along the mighty Yangtze River were higher than in 1998, when catastrophic flooding killed about 4,000 people. (PA)

Woman minister takes over top Finnish party

Finland's ruling Centre Party elected a young woman minister yesterday to replace Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen at its helm, leaving her set to succeed him as premier in coming weeks.

Public Administration and Local Government Minister Mari Kiviniemi, 41, won with 1,357 votes in a close second round of voting against Economic Affairs Minister Mauri Pekkarinen, 62, who received 1,035 votes at the Centre Party Congress in Lahti, some 100 kilometres north of Helsinki.

Also in the race were veteran career politician, Trade and Development Minister Paavo Vaeyrynen, 63, and first-time parliamentarian, organic chicken farmer Timo Kaunisto, 47, who were eliminated from the race in the first round of voting. (AFP)

'Relative was driving during Mandela girl crash car'

A relative of Nelson Mandela's was driving the car in which his great-granddaughter was travelling when she was killed in a crash, the anti-apartheid leader's office said yesterday.

Sello Hatang, spokesman for the Nelson Mandela Foundation, confirmed the man was a relative, but could not be more specific. The man has not been named.

Mr Hatang also said plans have not yet been completed for 13-year-old Zenani Mandela's funeral.

Police said the man could be charged with drink-driving and homicide after the accident which happened early on Friday, as Zenani was returning home from a World Cup concert.

Mr Mandela did not attend the World Cup opening ceremony and first game. (PA)