MEXICO

Mexico's lower house of Congress said it would open a probe into the finances of former President Vicente Fox after a magazine spread on his swanky country home sparked questions.

A congressional commission will investigate where Fox got the money to transform his modest ranch into a mansion with a lake and swimming pool, as shown in the magazine Quien this month.

Fox, a conservative whose term ended in December 2006, has denied wrongdoing.

AFGHANISTAN Italians' captors killed in rescue

At least nine kidnappers were killed when Italian commandos aided by other NATO forces and aircraft rescued two kidnapped Italian intelligence operatives in a daring ambush and gun battle.

Although both the freed Italians were wounded, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said the operation was a success.

Defense Minister Arturo Parisi said Italian forces were aided in the rescue by British, German and U.S. forces.

Elsewhere, two North Atlantic Treaty Organization soldiers serving with Spain's contingent and an Iranian serving as their interpreter were killed by a land mine, the Spanish defense minister said.

INDONESIA Appeals rejected for Bali bombers

Indonesia's Supreme Court rejected appeals by all three Islamic militants on death row for the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, state news agency Antara said.

Court spokesman Nurhadi said two panels of judges had ruled against Ali Gufron and Imam Samudra -- on Aug. 23 and Sept. 19 respectively -- because their lawyers provided no new evidence, Antara reported.

The court announced this month that it had rejected on Aug. 30 an appeal by a third bomber on death row, Amrozi Nurhasyim.

Defense lawyers argued that the convictions were illegal because an anti-terrorism law was applied retroactively.

JAPAN Fukuda chosen as prime minister

The lower house of Japan's parliament, as expected, chose new ruling party leader Yasuo Fukuda as prime minister today, hours after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Cabinet formally resigned.

Abe, 53, announced Sept. 12 that he wanted to quit, and checked into a hospital the next day for stress-related intestinal ailments. He told reporters Monday that his ailing health lay behind his decision to resign, though he did not mention his condition at the time of his announcement.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Sunday selected Fukuda as its new president. The position ensured he would be elected prime minister.

RUSSIA Putin gives finance chief new status

Russian President Vladimir V. Putin boosted the authority of Finance Minister Alexei L. Kudrin in a government reshuffle that dropped Economy Minister German O. Gref.

Putin kept Kudrin, 46, as finance minister and promoted him to deputy prime minister, a vote of confidence in a man credited with masterminding Russia's return to financial health after the turmoil of the 1990s.

Putin reshuffled his Cabinet after sacking Prime Minister Mikhail Y. Fradkov and naming Viktor Zubkov, a little-known financial regulator, to replace him.

Gref was the biggest casualty, replaced by 44-year-old Elvira Nabiulina, a think-tank boss and his former deputy minister.

From Times Wire Reports