World Scene

COLOMBIA

School bus crushed; 23 persons killed

BOGOTA — A construction crew’s backhoe tumbled down a steep hillonto a major highway yesterday and crushed a school bus, killing at least 21 children and two adults, and injuring 36 children, officials said.

The backhoe was being towed when it rolled off a ledge and plunged nearly 70 feet before crushing the bus on the highway below, said Claudia Cubillos, a spokeswoman for the Bogota Health Ministry, which oversees rescue efforts.

Mayor Luis Eduardo Garzon sped to the scene of the accident by motorbike to comfort the victims and their families.

JORDAN

Saddam letter given to his daughters

AMMAN — The International Committee of the Red Cross delivered a message from Saddam Hussein to his daughters after a U.S. censor cleared it, and a second message submitted this week was being reviewed, a Red Cross spokeswoman said yesterday.

Red Cross representatives visited Saddam, who was captured in mid-December, on Feb. 21 and again Tuesday, said spokeswoman Nada Doumani. He gave the group a letter for his family each time.

Saddam’s daughters, Raghad and Rana, have lived in seclusion in Jordan since July. Saddam had his 67th birthday yesterday.

ISRAEL

Charges unlikely in Sharon case

JERUSALEM — An interim legal report has found Israeli prosecutors lack enough evidence to charge Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in a bribery scandal, a TV station reported yesterday.

Israel’s chief prosecutor has officially recommended bringing charges against Mr. Sharon in the bribery case. But Channel 2 television said an advisory team decided there was insufficient evidence.

“They all reached the conclusion that the case stinks, but you don’t win in court based on bad feelings,” the Channel 2 report said.

UNITED NATIONS

World body adoptsweapons resolution

NEW YORK — The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution yesterday requiring all 191 U.N. states to pass laws keeping weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of terrorists. The measure, adopted under a section of the U.N. charter known as Chapter VII, allows for military enforcement if necessary.

President Bush had urged the council in September to close a loophole that could allow terror groups to obtain nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

Previous treaties targeted weapons proliferation by governments, but there are no laws to prevent “nonstate actors” such as corrupt scientists and terrorists from obtaining such weapons.

TURKEY

Reforms proposed to ease EU entry

ANKARA — The Turkish ruling party has sent to parliament a package of constitutional amendments designed to persuade the European Union to open long-delayed entry talks, officials said yesterday.

The measures include enshrining equality between men and women; removing military representatives from the board that supervises higher education; and scrapping state security courts, which try political and security-linked crimes.