Chinese heads sold at YSL auction

China had urged Christie's to halt the auction of the Qing dynasty sculptures

Two 18th-Century statues claimed by China have been sold at the Paris auction of late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent's collection.

The two bronze sculptures of a rabbit and a rat, looted from Beijing's Old Summer Palace in 1860, sold for a total of more than 31m euros (

Belgrade prison guards suspended

Milorad Ulemek was a member of the Red Berets special police force

Serbian authorities have suspended 11 guards at a Belgrade prison, amid reports that one of its most high-profile killers was planning to escape.

A replica gun was recently found in the cell of Milorad Ulemek at the central prison in the Serbian capital.

He is serving 40 years for the murder of Serb prime minister Zoran Djindjic and former president Ivan Stambolic.

Prison official Milan Obradovic said CCTV footage had failed to reveal who had given Ulemek the fake gun and when.

Officials believe the former policeman was planning to use it to escape during a transfer to a military hospital.

Replica pistol

Mr Obradovic, speaking at a news conference, confirmed that 11 guards at the central prison had been suspended, but did not give any further details.

Journalists were shown the replica of a Colt pistol, which Mr Obradovic said could be bought at any bargain store.

Ulemek, an ex-French Foreign Legionnaire, was one of eight people convicted in 2005 for the murder in 2000 of Mr Stambolic.

In 2007 he was one of 12 people found guilty of the murder of Mr Djindjic in 2003.

Guards charged over prison break

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A local resident captured part of the escape on video

Four prison guards and a pilot have appeared in court in Athens on charges of complicity in Sunday's escape by two inmates from a prison by helicopter.

Bank robber Vassilis Paleokostas and Albanian contract killer Alket Rizaj had escaped from the same prison using the same method 20 months earlier.

They escaped from Korydallos prison after a helicopter landed on the roof and a rope ladder was thrown to them.

The jail's director and the inspector of prisons have already been dismissed.

The incident has proved highly embarrassing for the government, which had pledged to increase security after the last jailbreak.

A massive manhunt has so far yielded no trace of the fugitives.

'Participation from within'

But the justice ministry has suspended eight prison guards, four of whom appeared in court on Tuesday accused of complicity in the escape. They face up to four years in prison if convicted.

Prime Minister Karamanlis has called a meeting to discuss the escape

A lawyer for the guards, Dimitris Tsovolas, has accused the authorities of looking for scapegoats and threatened to sue the Justice Minister, Nikos Dendias.

On Monday, Mr Dendias announced that he had ordered an examination of the bank accounts of all guards in the section where Paleokostas and Rizaj were being held to see if any had been bribed.

"The government believes that the operation could not have succeeded without participation from within. The government decided to take measures," Mr Dendias said after a cabinet meeting.

The cabinet also decided to introduce legislation forcing anyone buying pre-paid mobile phone Sim cards to provide identification, after officials said the escapees may have used them to co-ordinate with their accomplices.

Mountains

The helicopter used in the escape was found by a highway in the northern Athens suburb of Kapandriti. The pilot was found bound and gagged, and had a hood over his head.

He told police that the helicopter had been chartered by a couple who wanted to go from the town of Itea in central Greece to Athens, but who later threatened him with an automatic rifle and forced him to fly to the prison.

However, he was later arrested and charged.

The road on which the helicopter was found leads towards Greece's central mountain range, an area where Paleokostas, 42, was able to hide with impunity during previous years.

In June 2006, both men managed to escape when a hijacked helicopter landed in Korydallos' central yard at exercise time. On that occasion, the guards failed to react, because they thought it was a visit by prison inspectors.

The spectacular operation was masterminded by Paleokostas' brother Nikos, who has since been captured and jailed.

Paleokostas himself was recaptured in August 2008, two months after being named by police as a suspect in the kidnapping of a business tycoon George Mylonas, who was released after his family paid a 12m-euro ($15m) ransom.

Fumes kill two Danes in Jeddah

Two young Danish children have died in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah after inhaling poisonous pesticide fumes while they slept, local media say.

The Okaz newspaper said the children, aged six and 10, and their parents woke up complaining of stomach pains.

An ambulance took them to hospital, but the children did not survive. Their parents remain in intensive care.

Investigators say the fumes came from a house that had been sprayed with a pesticide meant for agricultural use.

Traces of the pesticide, aluminium phosphide, were found on dishes in the next door house in the al-Masarrah district, whose occupants had gone on holiday after having their house sprayed, reports said.

The family inhaled an extremely dangerous insecticide for several hours during sleep Sami BadawoudDirector of Health Affairs in Jeddah

The head of forensics in Jeddah, Col Saleh Zowayd, said there had been six similar deaths this month and that the pesticide was banned from use in homes.

"It is classified as a dangerous pesticide of the first class, and is only permitted to be used on farms and in open areas," he told Okaz.

Sami Badawoud, a senior health ministry official in the city, said the pesticide "had already been recalled from the market following reports of its dangers".

The children's father was an employee of the Danish company, Arla Foods, which has described their deaths as a "terrible tragedy".

EU tensions amid financial crisis

The four leaders representing the EU in the G20 differ on financial tactics

By Paul Reynolds World affairs correspondent, BBC News website

The British press has been noting with satisfaction that Prime Minister Gordon Brown is the first European leader to be invited to see US President Barack Obama.

However, to the question often asked in Europe when a new administration takes office - "Who's first?"- the answer in Washington is often "Who cares?"

The fact is that in the current global financial crisis, it is substance not style that matters.

It is not who is first but who is strongest.

And when it comes to substance, Britain counts for a good deal less than some other players - notably the EU as a whole, in which Germany above all has the key role, and China.

It is quite natural that Mr Brown should go to Washington first. Britain is chairing a summit of G20 countries in London on 2 April, so transatlantic positions have to be discussed in advance.

Mr Brown met Mr Obama in London during the US presidential campaign

Beyond that, Britain is providing by far the largest number of troops after the US in Afghanistan - and President Obama has made the pacification of Afghanistan a key foreign policy objective.

It would be pointless from his point of view to offer a petty snub to Britain over who gets the first invitation.

Role of EU

The more important issue for the Americans and the rest of the world is the position of the European Union in the face of the global crisis.

And here we find a very mixed picture, with EU leaders only just beginning to get their act together after a tense few months of rivalry, confused analyses and conflicting policies.

"Europe, like everyone, was taken by surprise at the speed of the collapse and lots of mistakes were made," says Peter Ludlow, a veteran Brussels observer who is chairman of the European Strategy Forum, a group of experts brought together in response to the financial meltdown.

This will all leave the world a different place Peter LudlowEuropean Strategy Forum

"Germany, the most important member state, was hesitant and cautious about spending being the way out, but the real trouble was caused by Britain's unilateralism and the disastrous handling of the end of 2008 by President Sarkozy and Commission President Barroso.

"Sarkozy got too big for his boots. He taunted, baited and ridiculed Chancellor Merkel and went off to London to see Gordon Brown, whom the Germans despised as the architect of a disaster from which he was now claiming to save the world. Merkel was not invited."

"Brown responded to the crisis with a reckless commitment to expenditure and an effective devaluation which is a beggar-your-neighbour policy," Mr Ludlow says, referring to the 15% fall of the pound against the euro since October.

"There was no basis for a coherent EU position," he adds.

New picture

Only now is a new picture emerging, Mr Ludlow notes.

"The Germans have concluded that a stimulus is required, and the old Franco-German axis came into play at the Berlin summit last weekend at which tighter regulation of the financial markets was agreed.

"This will not help the City of London and tensions remain. London is on the edge of the picture and the EU position for G20 is very much a continental one. The lesson is that Germany must be fully involved.

"Britain and France do not have that kind of power these days. The EU also cannot rely on the transatlantic dialogue alone. It has to talk directly to China and Japan.

"This will all leave the world a different place."

It is not only Brussels insiders who are urging the EU to get its act together.

German relations

The Times of London said in an editorial: "Europe is beset by bickering now, when it most needs strong, co-ordinated leadership... EU leaders, and especially Britain, need to strengthen ties with Germany."

The British government does not accept that it was wrong to go for a stimulus early on, arguing that others have come round and that, far from being isolated within the EU, Mr Brown is providing an example.

Mr Brown himself chose to stress another result from the Berlin meeting and one that will feature at the London summit - EU support for an enlarged $500bn (

Man held over Greece acid attack

An Albanian man has been arrested in Greece on suspicion of throwing acid in the face of a union official two months ago and forcing it down her throat.

The 48-year-old has been charged with participation in the attempted murder of Bulgarian Kostadinka Kuneva.

Ms Kuneva, secretary of the Union of Housekeepers and Cleaners in Athens, was ambushed by two men near her home after finishing work on 23 December.

She was blinded in one eye and remains in a serious condition in hospital.

The 42-year-old also suffered serious damage to her vocal chords and other internal organs as a result of the sulphuric acid attack.

Her friends and family say she had received threats over her union activities, which including opposing a recent pension system reform and fighting to improve working conditions for cleaners.

The attack sparked a series of protests by human rights and left-wing groups. Police used tear gas to disperse a rally by more than 1,000 people last Thursday in Athens after it turned violent.

Borthwick seeks 'equal' treatment

Borthwick (right) is given a stern talking to by referee Jonathan Kaplan

England captain Steve Borthwick is asking for his side to be treated fairly by the officials in Saturday's Six Nations game against Ireland.

Manager Martin Johnson claims England have a "perception problem" in the wake of a succession of yellow cards.

Borthwick called on Craig Joubert, who will officiate at Croke Park, not to be influenced by England's recent record.

"We hope he referees both sides equally, with the same interpretations for 80 minutes," said Borthwick.

"If that happens, then we have got a level to be accountable to."

Mike Tindall and Andy Goode were both sent to the sin-bin at the Millennium Stadium as England fell to a 23-15 defeat by Wales, following hot on the heels of Shane Geraghty and James Haskell's yellow cards against Italy in the tournament opener.

And with four players receiving 10 minutes in the bin in the autumn international against New Zealand, England have now had eight players yellow-carded in their last three Tests, as well as being on the wrong end of the penalty count.

606: DEBATE Is this a sign of panic, an attempt to create a ready-made excuse should they lose, or do they have a case? scrumdown2

But England's coaching staff have backed up Johnson's belief that the team is now being judged on reputation, rather than the letter of the law.

Attack coach Brian Smith went as far as to suggest that Jonathan Kaplan, who refereed at the Millennium Stadium, had come under pressure from Wales to find fault in England's play at the breakdown.

"His whole demeanour through that match, the way he addressed our team in the changing room beforehand - he had clearly had heaps of pressure put on by Wales," said Smith.

"The way our team was addressed prior to the Wales game took me a little bit by surprise. It was clear to me that Wales had done their job in terms of getting stuck into the referee.

"Fair play to them for doing it. Teams are looking at every advantage they can get.

"What we are really trying to say to the refs is: 'Please judge us the same way you judge other teams and do not come into the game with a preconceived idea'."

Nevertheless, England - who have a slight injury worry over second-choice hooker Dylan Hartley - have accepted they need to address their discipline if they are to have a chance of victory against Ireland.

"We are mindful we have to be seen to be whiter than white," said Smith.

"But we can't just back off at the breakdown. If we don't contest for the ball we could be blown away in the first half.

"We want the referee to make sure they keep Ireland honest in that area because we want to play rugby."