Briefly World

US presses China over jailed geologist

BEIJING: The US pressed China again on Tuesday to release US geologist Xue Feng jailed on charges of stealing state secrets. Our sense has been that the case has not been handled with the kind of transparency that would befit a nation which tells us that the rule of law is paramount, said Robert Goldberg,US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission.

US boy takes kids hostage,shoots self

MILWAUKEE: A 15-year-old boy took 23 classmates and a teacher hostage at a Wisconsin high school Monday,shooting himself as the police broke in. The hostages were released unharmed from the classroom at Marinette High School. The suspect was rushed to hospital but his condition is not known.

Italian film director Monicelli kills self

ROME: Mario Monicelli,95,who directed some of postwar Italys most famous films,jumped to his death from the fourth floor of Romes San Giovanni hospital,where he was being treated for terminal prostate cancer,on Monday,Italian media said. Monicelli made classics like as I Soliti Ignoti Big Deal on Madonna Street and The Great War.