World briefs 12/20/05

Seaplane crashes off Miami Beach; 19 killed

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- A propeller-driven seaplane carrying 20 people crashed just off Miami Beach within sight of the city's high-rises Monday, killing at least 19 of those aboard, authorities said. Witnesses said the plane exploded in flames as it came down, and the FBI joined the investigation. Rescuers found no sign that anyone survived. The Coast Guard said 19 bodies were found. The plane was carrying two crew members and 18 passengers, including three infants, authorities said.

California to end racial segregation of inmates

SACRAMENTO, Calif.-- Ending a long-standing practice, California prison officials have agreed to stop using race as a principal criterion in segregating inmates. The prison system's settlement of a case filed by a black inmate comes after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in February that California prisons cannot automatically house inmates by race, even temporarily.

New York commuters brace for transit strike

NEW YORK -- Commuters spent the day on edge Monday as negotiators struggled to avert New York's first citywide bus and subway strike in more than 25 years. Turning up the pressure on the city's transit agency, union members at two private bus lines in Queens walked off the job early Monday, and the union president warned that a full-blown strike was set to begin at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

Web film might show American hostage killed

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A video posted by an extremist group on a Web site Monday showed a man it said was an American hostage being shot in the back of the head and claimed the victim was U.S. contractor Ronald Allen Schulz. There was no word on the fate of four other Western hostages kidnapped in late November. The Islamic Army of Iraq said the man shown in the video was Schulz. The video did not show the man's face and it was impossible to identify him conclusively.

U.S. beef again being served in Japan

TOKYO -- American beef made a small but significant appearance on grills in Japan on Monday, signaling what U.S. producers hope will be a triumphant return to what once was their most lucrative overseas market. Japan shut its doors to American beef imports in December 2003 after the first U.S. case of mad cow disease, depriving producers of a $1.4 billion market. Japan's Dec. 12 decision to partially lift its embargo was followed by limited meat shipments in recent days.

Western music banned on Iranian state radio, TV

TEHRAN, Iran -- Hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has issued a decree banning Western music from the country's radio and TV stations. The official IRAN Persian daily reported Monday that Ahmadinejad, as head of the Supreme Cultural Revolutionary Council, ordered the enactment of an October ruling by the council to ban all Western music, including classical music, on state broadcast outlets. The ban applies to state-run radio and TV.

Fox: U.S. plans for Mexico border fence 'shameful'

MEXICO CITY -- Mexican President Vicente Fox stepped up his attacks on the United States plan to build a fence along its southern border on Sunday. Fox said barriers between nations belonged to the last century and had been torn down by popular uprisings, referring to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. "This wall is shameful," Fox said at an event in his home state of Guanajuato.

China sharply increases official size of economy

BEIJING -- China's government sharply increased the official size of its economy in a report Tuesday that said output grew by 16.8 percent last year -- nearly twice the figure reported earlier. The figures were issued by the National Bureau of Statistics. Based on the new data, China's mainland replaced Italy as the world's sixth-largest economy in 2004, but still ranked behind Britain and France, Li said.

--From wire reports