World news: Six men held after British women raped in Caribbean

SIX men have been charged with the rape of two British women on the Caribbean island of St Lucia, officials said today.

The victims, aged 24 and 31, were attacked by a gang of masked men last Tuesday on an isolated stretch of Grande Anse beach.

They were volunteering on a wildlife conservation project run by a British-based charity when the late-night incident occurred. The suspects, who are local to St Lucia but yet to be named, are due in court later this month, police said.

Officials said the two women were in the country working on a project run by British-based Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and St Lucia's Ministry of Agriculture.

The St Lucia government has launched an investigation to determine how they came to be alone on the isolated beach at midnight, a Ministry of Agriculture official said.

British High Commissioner Karl Burrows described the attack as "a dreadful crime".

He advised British visitors to the island to exercise caution as they would anywhere else, saying that crimes against British tourists were not widespread on the island.

Spector lawyers in fresh appeal

LAWYERS for music producer Phil Spector have asked an appeals court to take a second look at his arguments for a new trial, contending that the trial judge had violated his neutrality in the case.

Lawyers said the court's rejection of Spector's murder conviction appeal had left the legal community incredulous.

Bin Laden in final message

OSAMA bin Laden recorded a message praising the Middle East protest movements and predicting that revolutions would spread across the region shortly before his death.

"I think that the winds of change will blow over the entire Muslim world, with permission from Allah," bin Laden said in the 12-minute message released online today.

The message was released as a video, but it contains only an audio track and a photo of the terrorist leader.

Obama defends Syria sanctions

US President Barack Obama is to use a sweeping Middle East speech to defend new sanctions on Syrian President Bashar Assad and promise economic aid to nations that embrace democratic reforms. Mr Obama's speech today comes as his government toughens it message toward Mr Assad: Embrace democracy or get out.

Curfew ends as violence eases

TUNISIA'S government is lifting an overnight curfew instituted in and around the capital amid a resurgence of street violence.

The defence and interior ministries said the security situation had improved since the order for a curfew following three straight days of protests.Plane crash kills all 22 passengers

Argentina: There were no survivors in the wreckage of a commercial plane carrying 22 over Patagonia. The Sol Air Lines plane went down while en route from Neuquen near the Andes to Comodoro Rivadavia.

Guantanamo: An Afghan detainee at the Guantanamo Bay prison died in an apparent suicide, the US military said. The prisoner, known only as Inayatullah, was not conscious or breathing when guards checked on him.