Madrid  - Edgar Vallejo Guarin, nicknamed "Beto el Gitano (Beto the Gypsy)" and one of Colombia's most-wanted cocain bosses, has been arrested in Madrid, Spanish police said Friday.

He was detained in a luxury hotel after being on the run for years, with the United States having offered a reward of five million dollars for information leading to his arrest.

Port-au-Prince/Santo Domingo/Washington  - At least 136 people have died in Haiti as a result of Tropical Storm Hanna, officials said Friday, as it sped toward the southeastern US coast.

Forecasters at the Miami-based US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) were also tracking two other storms - Ike and Josephine - that have been brewing in the Atlantic Ocean and heading west.

The centre of Hanna was located about 180 kilometres east of Daytona Beach, Florida, and the storm was moving northwest with maximum sustained winds of 100 kilometres per hour.

Cologne, Germany  - Germany's main Muslim bodies cut their links Friday to Germany's only professor of Islamic religion, charging that Muhammad Kalisch had questioned the existence of the Prophet Mohammed and Muslim beliefs about the origin of the Koran.

Kalisch teaches at the University of Muenster in northern Germany.

The four main Muslim groups had been represented on a board of advisors to his Centre for Islamic Religious Studies (CRS) since the chair was established, but there has been friction over his academic publications.

London  - Heavy rainfall and strong winds caused flooding and severe disruption to road and rail services in southern Britain Friday, with the extreme western region of Wales worst affected.

The Atlantic weather front swept across the valleys of southern Wales, leaving streets and homes flooded and drivers stranded in their vehicles.

Fire crews rescued a woman and her small baby from their home after water levels had risen to one-and-a-half metres in their village in southern Wales.

Rome/London  - A Milan court has thrown out a defamation suit brought by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi against British magazine The Economist, the publication said Friday on its website, citing the judge's ruling.

"We are pleased to announce that the Court in Milan has issued a judgment rejecting all Mr Berlusconi's claims and requiring him to make a payment for costs to The Economist," the magazine said.

The Economist posted on its website what is said was a copy of the Milan Judge Angelo Ricciardi's ruling dated August 26.

Washington, June 4 : A new study has revealed that CEOs hired from outside are more likely to be dismissed because Boards of Directors commonly make mistakes during their appointments.

For example, during CEO selection, the board of directors of the hiring firm knows less than the candidates regarding the person’s true competencies.

As a result, it is possible that the board makes a faulty hire and then dismisses the CEO shortly after the succession.

For the study, lead researcher Yan Zhang, associate professor of management, examined 204 company leaders from 1993 to 1998, out of which 55 left their job within three years.