WORLD BRIEFS

CHINA:

21 infants dumped in river

The bodies of 21 babies, some with hospital identification tags around their tiny ankles, washed ashore on a river in eastern China and two mortuary workers were detained for allegedly dumping them. One of the babies was stuffed in a yellow plastic bag marked "medical waste." Xinhua News Agency said the bodies were discovered under a bridge spanning the Guangfu River on the outskirts of Jining in Shandong province. ID tags on eight babies helped trace them back to the Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University, Xinhua reported. Hospital mortuary workers Zhu Zhenyu and Wang Zhijun were taken away by police. The babies' families had paid the pair to dispose of the bodies, but they apparently dumped them at the river.

Trafficker faces execution Beijing has told Tokyo that it will execute a Japanese man convicted last year of drug trafficking. It would be the first time a Japanese is put to death in China since diplomatic relations were restored in 1972. In September 2006, Mitsunobu Akano was arrested at Dalian Airport in Liaoning Province for attempting with another Japanese to smuggle about 2.5 kilograms of stimulant drugs to Japan. The accomplice was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Despite China's stiff laws against drugs, smuggling attempts by Japanese have shown no significant signs of decline.

COLOMBIA: Long-held soldier released

A soldier held hostage for more than 12 years was freed by FARC rebels Tuesday. Sgt. Pablo Emilio Moncayo was 19 when taken captive Dec. 21, 1997. He was flown to the city of Florencia, where his parents and four sisters rushed toward him and embraced him. Moncayo met a 6-year-old sister, Laura, for the first time.