World briefs 8/12/05

Lebanese security forces arrest Muslim cleric

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Security forces have arrested Omar Bakri, the Islamic fundamentalist cleric who is being investigated in Britain on terror-related charges, officials said Thursday. The officials refused to say when or where Bakri was arrested. They spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak about the case. Bakri, who earned a reputation for extremism during his 20 years in Britain, announced Tuesday that he was in Lebanon. The cleric said he was visiting relatives but planned to return to Britain within six weeks.

Yahoo invests $1 billion in China's Alibaba.com

BEIJING -- Yahoo Inc. announced Thursday it would pay $1 billion in cash for a 40 percent stake in the Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba.com, heating up the race to dominate China's fledgling online auctions industry. The alliance is the biggest deal yet in a flurry of recent investments in China by foreign Internet companies eager for a share of a market with more than 100 million people online. Alibaba runs Chinese- and English-language auction sites for foreign companies looking for Chinese wholesale suppliers and individual Chinese buyers and sellers.

Pakistan conducts first cruise missile test

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan test fired its first cruise missile early Thursday without warning archrival India under a new treaty requiring notification of tests involving missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, officials said. The Foreign Ministry said the missile notification agreement formalized by the two nuclear-armed nations over the weekend did not cover cruise missiles. Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the peace process should still move ahead.

-- From wire reports

The notification pact is part of a confidence-building process being pursued by the two South Asian neighbors that have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947.

Gold miners' unions in South Africa agree to end strike

CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- The two unions representing 90,000 striking South African gold miners agreed Thursday to accept management's latest offer and return to work, ending the worst strike in 18 years in the world's largest gold-producing nation. The National Union of Mineworkers, which represents more than 80,000 miners, and Solidarity, representing 10,000 miners, accepted an offer of a 6 percent to 7 percent wage increase. . A third union, the United Association of South Africa, had not joined the strike that started Sunday and cost the industry about 130 million rands ($20.2 million) a day in lost production. At its height, more than 70 percent of South Africa's 130,000 gold miners were taking part in the strike.