WORLD briefs

IRAQ. A Briton and an Australian, both security contractors, were killed in a shooting inside central Baghdad's secure "Green Zone" early on Sunday, a British embassy official said. The men, employees of UK-based firm ArmorGroup, were shot dead in the heavily fortified area home to foreign embassies and government offices. Iraqi authorities arrested a British contractor over the shooting.

CHINA. A typhoon pummeled China's eastern coast Sunday, toppling houses, flooding villages and forcing nearly a million people to flee to safety. Officials rode bicycles to distribute food to residents trapped by rising waters. Typhoon Morakot struck after triggering the worst flooding in Taiwan 50 years, leaving dozens missing and feared dead and toppling a six-story hotel. It earlier lashed the Philippines, killing at least 21 people.

NEW YORK. Former US president Bill Clinton has announced a deal with two major US drug companies to supply cheap HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis treatments to developing countries, including the Caribbean. Under the agreement, Mylan and its subsidiary Matrix will make available a second-line therapy of four antiretroviral drugs for less than 500 dollars annually. The discount will translate to 400 million dollars in savings over the next five years compared to prices usually paid for alternative regimens.

CUBA. Cuba, in the grip of a serious economic crisis, is running short of toilet paper and may not get sufficient supplies until the end of the year, officials with state-run companies said. Cuba both imports toilet paper and produces its own, but does not currently have enough raw materials to make it.

SAUDI ARABIA. Saudi Arabia has closed the Jeddah office of a Lebanon-based television network after it aired an interview with a Saudi man speaking about his sexual escapades, a government spokesman said on Sunday. The TV host Abdul-Jawad has been charged with publicizing vice and lawyers say he may face the death penalty.

ENGLAND. Former child acting star Mark Lester said yesterday that he donated sperm to Michael Jackson and believes he could be the biological father of the singer's daughter.