World at a glance

Havel In HospitalPRAGUE: Czech President Vaclav Havel is being treated with antibiotics after his admission to Prague's military hospital...

Havel In Hospital

PRAGUE: Czech President Vaclav Havel is being treated with antibiotics after his admission to Prague8217;s military hospital suffering from bronchitis, his doctors said on Friday. The president8217;s high temperature was back to normal today, they said. It remained to be seen if the bronchitis could be prevented from turning into pneumonia. Pneumonia could be life-threatening for Havel who suffers from a chronic lung condition. He was admitted to hospital on Thursday evening. The former chainsmoker had half his right lung removed in 1966 because of cancer. Since then he has suffered repeated viral infections, some of them requiring lengthy treatment in hospital.

Hundreds Missing In Pak

KARACHI: Pakistan8217;s navy sent rescue ships equipped with medical teams and divers to search for hundreds of people missing on Friday after a deadly cyclone shattered hundreds of villages on the Arabian Sea coast. Government officials say 700 people are missing and feared drowned followingThursday8217;s cyclone that hit landfall with a roar, packing winds of 270 kmph and causing tidal waves that submerged hundreds of small fishing villages. Residents from the area, many of whom spent the night outside in knee-deep water, say the death toll could be much higher. Some people said as many as 3,500 people are missing.

Yeltsin on holiday again

MOSCOW: Russian President Boris Yeltsin unexpectedly left here on Friday for the Black Sea Resort of Sochi on an unscheduled two-week holiday. There has been an intense speculation in the Russian media that 68-year-old Yeltsin is not in good condition since last Saturday. Just before the Duma impeachment vote, he was taken to the Moscow8217;s elite Central Clinical Hospital for what Kremlin aides called a 8220;routine check-up.8221; Yeltsin has kept out of sight since as the horse-trading began for the Cabinet8217;s key slots. He missed a meeting last Tuesday with Spain8217;s Prime Minister and the television pictures of him meeting with Prime Minister Sergei Stepashinon Wednesday, carried no sound, although his aides denied rumours that he was ill. Yeltsin has a history of ill health, including heart problems, stomach ulcers and pneumonia and has spent long spells out of the public eye during his second term, which ends next year.