SOFIA (Reuters) - The US is pushing Libya to release five Bulgarian nurses condemned to death after being convicted of deliberately infecting hundreds of children with the deadly HIV virus, Secretary of State Colin Powell said yesterday. A court sentenced the medics and a Palestinian doctor to death by firing squad in May, sparking a rebuke from the EU and the US. “We think the facts on this case are clear. We hope that justice will be served and compassion will be shown,” Powell told reporters during a visit to Sofia. “In all of our conversations with the Libyans we will continue to press the case for the release of the Bulgarian nurses.”

BANJA LUKA (AP) - The Bosnian-Serb government offered yesterday to pay special welfare benefits to the families of war crimes suspects who surrender to the UN war crimes tribunal by the end of the year. The benefits would include monthly payments for the suspects and their families while the suspects are on trial or serving prison terms. Family members would also get two free trips a year to The Hague, Netherlands, where the court is based. To qualify, the fugitives must get in touch with authorities by tomorrow and turn themselves over by Dec. 31, the government said in a statement.

Riot police in Ankara fired tear gas yesterday to disperse about 100 demonstrators who threw fire bombs and stones at police during a protest against new disciplinary measures in prisons. Police detained some 50 protesters, the Anatolia news agency said. (AP)

A freight ship sank yesterday in the Sava River near Belgrade, injuring no one but triggering concern about possible pollution, authorities said. The vessel was carrying scrap iron and had more than 15 tons of diesel fuel in its tank when it sank just outside Belgrade’s river port, the republic’s Directorate for Waterways announced. It was not immediately clear what caused the ship to sink. (AP)

The government yesterday gave 16 million leks ($175,000; 130,000 euros) to local authorities in northern Albania to repair damage caused by flooding over the weekend. Heavy rains on Saturday flooded more than 450 houses and thousands of hectares (acres) of farmland in Shkodra, 115 kilometers (70 miles) north of capital, after authorities were forced to open the gates of a main hydropower station for several hours. (AP)

Tirana Mayor Edi Rama was voted the world’s best mayor for his work in improving living conditions in the Albanian capital in an Internet contest presented yesterday. Rama was named World Mayor 2004 after receiving more than 5,500 of the 35,000 votes cast in the competition, according to the London-based City Mayors organization. Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador finished second among the 400 mayors that were nominated in the contest, while Rome’s Walter Veltroni placed third. (AP)