WORLD BRIEFS

NIGERIA: Former leaders attend ceremony

George W. Bush and Tony Blair joined Nigeria's elite at a ceremony honoring the political and business establishment Sunday in Abuja, but one honoree's absence highlighted the endemic corruption plaguing the oil-rich nation. Hosted by a newspaper mogul, Nduka Obaigbena, the ceremony included an award for former anti-corruption investigator Nuhu Ribadu. But family members had to accept the award for Ribadu, who left for the United States after being fired and having been the target of a drive-by shooting. Neither Bush nor Blair spoke, but former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice briefly touched on the corruption in calling for honest presidential elections in 2011.

ISRAEL: Claiming sites upsets Palestinians

Israel is adding two West Bank holy shrines to its list of national heritage sites, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, staking a claim that angered Palestinians. Addressing his cabinet at a heritage site in the Israeli Galilee, Netanyahu said the sites were late additions, reflecting pressure from settlers to widen the heritage category to Old Testament sites. One of the sites, in the city of Hebron, has been a flash point for decades. Jews call it the Cave of the Patriarchs, where the Bible says Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were buried along with three of their wives. Muslims call it the al-Ibrahimi mosque, reflecting the fact Abraham is considered the father of both Judaism and Islam. The other site is the tomb of the biblical Rachel outside Bethlehem, 12 miles north of Hebron.

Giant surveillance plane displayed

Israel's air force introduced Sunday a fleet of huge pilotless planes that can remain in the air for a full day and could fly as far as the Persian Gulf, putting rival Iran within its range. The Heron TP drones, the size of Boeing 737 passenger jets, are the largest unmanned aircraft in Israel's military. They are primarily used for surveillance and carrying diverse payloads. At a sprawling air base in central Israel, the drone dwarfed an F-15 fighter jet parked beside it.

Restoring stolen passports

The British Embassy in Israel said Sunday it is giving new passports to six British nationals whose identities were stolen by the suspects in the slaying of a top Hamas operative in Dubai, a first step toward clearing their names and returning their lives to normal.

INDONESIA: Obama statue moved to school

A statue of Barack Obama as a boy was placed Sunday night at the Jakarta elementary school the U.S. president once attended, after its display in a public park prompted a backlash in the capital.