World Briefs

Imprisoned for 27 years for a rape he did not commit, Michael Anthony Green walked out of a US jail a free man and in the process was able to leave behind some of the anger that fuelled his survival behind bars.

Accompanied by his lawyer, Mr Green walked out of jail and into the arms of about 20 family members who cheered him.

"Live life," Mr Green said, when asked what he is going to do now.

Mr Green, 44, was released after the Harris County District Attorney's Office reopened his case and new DNA tests it commissioned showed he did not commit the 1983 rape of a woman who was abducted.

Asked what kept him going the last 27 years, Mr Green said that in part it was his anger.

Youngest sailor set for solo global trip

Laura Dekker, the 14-year-old Dutch girl who hopes to become the youngest sailor to circle the globe alone, announced yesterday she would be leaving the Netherlands on Wednesday.

But it is not yet the first leg of her solo voyage. She says she will sail with her father to Portugal, from where she will begin her round-the-world venture later.

Dekker won a prolonged battle last Tuesday when a court released her from the guardianship of Dutch child protection agencies, which had blocked her earlier attempts.

The authorities said being alone and absent from school for so long would be harmful for her education and psychological development.

Dekker wrote on her blog yesterday that she does not know when she will set sail from Portugal. She posted a picture of the schoolbooks she is taking.

Italian building collapse deaths

An apartment building has collapsed in southern Italy, killing three people in their sleep, police said.

The building fell apart after 1am in Afragola, a small town near Naples, killing a married couple and an elderly woman, said the deputy chief of Naples police, Paolo Iodice.

The woman's granddaughter, a 10-year-old girl, was still alive under the rubble and rescuers were trying to pull her out, officers said.

Saudi and Syrian leaders united

The leaders of Syria and Saudi Arabia, once bitter rivals, made an unprecedented show of co-operation by travelling together to Lebanon in the hope of preventing any violence if members of a militant group are indicted in the 2005 assassination of a former Lebanese prime minister.

The unusual joint visit by Syrian President Bashar Assad and Saudi King Abdullah underscored the depth of Arab concern over potential chaos in Lebanon.

Many people fear indictments of Hizbollah members could spark clashes between Lebanon's Sunnis and Shiites, or that Hizbollah's nemesis Israel could be pulled into a conflict, causing wider turmoil.

Airline grounded as pilots go abroad

National air carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) had to cancel at least five flights yesterday - one to Hong Kong, the others to domestic destinations - after several Airbus A320 pilots decamped for jobs abroad.

Brain drain - the decamping of professionals, including teachers and nurses, for better jobs abroad - has long plagued the impoverished South-East Asian nation, with about 10 per cent of the population of 94 million working abroad and sending home the money that provides the bloodline for the economy.

Crash kills five

Five people died when their speeding vehicle crashed into a road barrier near Copenhagen, police said.

The cause of the accident is being investigated but the van was speeding in an emergency lane when the crash occurred, police spokesman Mads Firlings said.

Three of the five passengers were travelling in the back of the van, where there were no seats or seatbelts, and they were thrown out on to the road, he said.

'Exploited' workers clash with police

Thousands of garment workers in an area of Bangladesh where clothes are made for foreign companies including Marks and Spencer clashed with police yesterday, amid protests over a new minimum wage.

Police charged with batons, fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the stone-throwing workers at Ashulia, a major industrial hub of some 300 garment factories that supply clothing to international companies like Walmart, Zara and Marks and Spencer.

Workers from about 20 factories joined the protests and dozens were injured in the clashes.