World Briefs

October 31, 1995
Web posted at: 3:45 p.m. EST (2045 GMT)

Yeltsin's wife says he's feeling better

MOSCOW (CNN) -- Boris Yeltsin's wife said Tuesday that the Russian president is feeling better, although aides expressed doubt he will be healthy enough to receive visitors soon.

"I can tell you with a sense of relief that Boris Nikolayevich is doing better," Naina Yeltsin told reporters after visiting her husband at Moscow's Central Clinic Hospital.

Yeltsin, 64, was rushed to the hospital Thursday with acute heart trouble for the second time in four months. He has had virtually no visitors since then.

"Of course, we're all worried," said his wife. "But we don't need to talk about his being incapable, or say that the nuclear button is out of control." The first lady, who traditionally has stayed out of the public eye, has made several recent public appearances to downplay concerns about her husband's health.

Yeltsin's illness has increased speculation about his ability to seek re-election when his five-year term expires next June.

Another fire breaks out in Azerbaijani subway

BAKU, Azerbaijan (CNN) -- Just three days after the world's worst subway disaster, another fire broke out Tuesday in the underground railway network in the Azeri capital of Baku. There are no reports of injuries.

Deputy Prime Minister Abbas Abbasov told a government commission Tuesday that a train engine had caught fire at the Kara Karayev station, but station workers promptly extinguished it, Interfax news agency reported.

On Saturday, about 300 people were killed and at least 200 others injured when a fire ripped through a tunnel between two Baku subway stations. Most of the victims were crushed and suffocated when panic broke out in the airless tunnel.

Azerbaijani President Geidar Aliev has said sabotage cannot be ruled out in Saturday's incident. An investigation is under way.

Prosecutors to question former S. Korean president

SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- Prosecutors of former South Korean president Roh Tae-Woo said Tuesday they have summoned him to appear before state prosecutors for questioning about a $654 million slush fund he secretly amassed.

Roh has been told to show up at the prosecutor general's office Wednesday morning

It marks the first time the government has taken formal action against a former leader for improper behavior.

The scandal involves allegations that Roh used the slush funds to help two opposing candidates in the 1992 presidential election, and that he took kickbacks as well as dispensed favors to those who helped him launder the money.

Current president Kim Young Sam has denied any involvement in or knowledge of the fund.

Boat sinks in India, killing 67

PATNA, India (CNN) -- At least 67 people died when their overloaded boat capsized and sank in the Ganges river as they returned from a religious festival.

Witnesses said the boat sank some 50 yards from shore Sunday night. They said the vessel was packed with more than 100 people.

Filipina maid sentenced to be lashed

AL-AIN, United Arab Emirates (CNN) - An Islamic court Monday sentenced Filipina maid Sarah Balabagan to 100 lashes, a year in jail and deportation upon payment of $41,000 to the family of the man she stabbed to death after he raped her.

Balabagan had been sentenced to death for premeditated murder. But earlier this month, the victim's family agreed to accept money in exchange for dropping their insistence on her execution.

"Western Front" manuscript to be auctioned

BERLIN, Germany (CNN) - The German manuscript of the famous anti-war novel "All Quiet on the Western Front" is going on sale after remaining undiscovered for decades.

Sotheby's said it expected the hand-written manuscript of Erich Maria Remarque's 1929 novel about World War I, which has sold 50 million copies, to bring up to $550,000 when it is auctioned in London on Dec. 1.