BEIRUT (AP):

A cargo ship carrying 83 crew members and a load of cattle sank off the Lebanese coast yesterday in stormy weather, and hours later rescuers had pulled 12 people from the water, officials said. Vessels from the Lebanese navy and a United Nations peacekeeping force in the country were trying to find and rescue others from the sunken ship, which was believed to have been sailing from Uruguay to the Syrian port of Tartous. Andrea Tenenti, a spokesman for the UNIFIL peacekeeping force, identified the Panamanian-flagged ship as the Danny F II. It sank 11 miles (17 kilometres) from the city of Tripoli in a heavy rainstorm. The vessel sent a distress call yesterday afternoon but had sunk before a Lebanese navy ship reached the area, a senior Lebanese army officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to release information to news media.

Father confesses to mutilating toddler

Brazil (AP):

The stepfather of a two-year-old boy found with 42 needles in his body confessed to jabbing them into the toddler during weeks of rituals with a woman he claimed received instructions through trances, Brazilian police said yesterday. Roberto Carlos Magalhaes, a 30-year-old bricklayer, told detectives that the woman went into a trance and would "command him to stick the needles in the boy's body," police inspector Helder Fernandes Santana said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

Gaza continues on downward slope

UNITED NATIONS (AP):

The situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate as neither Israel nor the Palestinians do enough to obtain peace, a senior United Nations official told the UN Security Council on yesterday. Robert Serry, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said Israel's announced 10-month suspension of settlement activity fell short of its commitments under the 2003 road-map peace plan. He called on Palestinians to resume negotiations with Israel, which were suspended after military operations against Hamas left the Gaza Strip in a state of calamity.

Italian Premier on the road to recovery

ROME (AP):

Four days after being attacked at a political rally, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was whisked away from a Milan hospital with his face covered in bandages, an unusual sight from a politician and media mogul long obsessed with controlling his image. The grim-looking Berlusconi waved weakly to photographers as he entered his car yesterday, a stark contrast to the premier's usually ebullient appearances filled with broad smiles and autograph signings. The 73-year-old leader, who has used plastic surgery and hair transplants to keep a fresh look on his perma-tanned visage, sported a large bandage that covered part of the left side of his face and his nose as he left the San Raffaele hospital. His attacker, identified as 42-year-old Massimo Tartaglia, remains in a Milan prison.