COLOMBIA

Rebel chief is extradited to the U.S.

A captured guerrilla leader, Erminso Cabrera, became the first rebel extradited to the United States under an indictment that accused 50 members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, of supplying 60% of cocaine in the U.S.

Only two of the other suspects are in custody and one is believed to have died in battle.

The U.S. Justice Department offered rewards totaling $75 million for the fugitive FARC leaders when it announced the indictment, which accused Cabrera of supervising the production and distribution of thousands of pounds of cocaine in southern Colombia.

The extradition, announced by police, came as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez tried to broker a deal to swap scores of rebels imprisoned in Colombia for 45 FARC-held hostages, including three from the U.S.

CHINA Catholics install new Beijing bishop

China's state-controlled Catholic Church installed a cleric well-regarded by the Vatican as bishop of Beijing in a move that officials say should help ease their tense relations.

Joseph Li Shan was appointed to the influential post in China's capital in a ceremony at the city's 400-year-old Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception attended by several hundred priests, nuns, officials and lay Catholics.

The appointment of bishops has long been a sticking point in the difficult relations between the Vatican and China over the last half-century. Both sides, however, have sought to strike a compromise in recent years. Many bishops have first been named by China but then asked for and received the Vatican's approval, as church officials privately said was the case with Li.

GERMANY Rwandan held on genocide charges

German police have arrested a former Rwandan government minister wanted on genocide charges related to the 1994 conflict in the African state, the Federal Crime Office said.

Augustin Ngirabatware is accused of having presided over the Rwandan genocide and inciting mass killings of the minority Tutsis, a spokesman for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda confirmed. He was arrested Monday in Frankfurt.

About 500,000 people, mostly ethnic Tutsis, were massacred in 100 days of genocide led by radical Hutus.

AUSTRIA Nuclear conferees criticize Israel

A 144-nation atomic energy conference criticized Israel for refusing to put its nuclear program under international purview.

Only Israel and the United States voted against the resolution; 53 nations backed it and 47 abstained. The remaining nations were absent.

Israel is considered to have nuclear weapons but does not confirm having them.

From Times Wire Reports