World datelines

Spain: Ditched flight

ATLANTERRA — A Swiss adventurer trying to soar from Morocco to Spain on jet-powered wings ditched safely into the Atlantic on Wednesday after hitting turbulence and clouds so thick he could not tell if he was flying up or down.

The bad weather — rather than a mechanical malfunction, as reported earlier by sponsors — thwarted Yves Rossy's bid to become the first person to achieve such an intercontinental crossing.

Rossy waved from the cold blue sea while awaiting rescue, his red wings and striped parachute floating beside him. In time, a rescue helicopter winched him from the wind-swept waters to safety.

Argentina: Flooding

BUENOS AIRES — Officials say flooding from heavy rains has killed 12 people in three South American nations and forced more than 20,000 to flee their homes.

Most of the dead are in southern Brazil — including eight in Rio Grande do Sul, according to the state's Civil Defense Department.

Sustained stormy weather has saturated the region and caused the river between Uruguay and Argentina to overflow its banks.

Government agencies report that 10,000 people have been evacuated in Brazil, along with 8,000 in northeastern Argentina and 4,000 in Uruguay.

Britain: Beefeaters

LONDON — Two ceremonial guards known as Beefeaters at the historic Tower of London were fired Wednesday after an internal investigation found that they harassed their first and only female colleague.

The Tower of London said it conducted a thorough investigation after allegations arose that Moira Cameron — the first female yeoman warder at the popular tourist attraction that is home to Britain's Crown Jewels — was a victim of a bullying campaign.

It said two yeoman warders had been dismissed, but the case against a third was not proven.

Greece: Theater

ATHENS — The ruined theater under the Acropolis where the works of Euripides and other classical playwrights were first performed some 2,500 years ago will undergo partial restoration over the next six years, Greek officials said Wednesday.

The $9 million program is set for completion by 2015 and will include extensive modern additions to the surviving stone seats of the Theater of Dionysus.

But is unlikely that the site will host modern audiences any time soon.

Russia: Tiger safe

VLADIVOSTOK — A rare Siberian tiger that Vladimir Putin fitted with a radio-tracking collar is alive and well, the Russian prime minister's spokesman said Wednesday, easing concerns raised when an environmentalist said the tracking device had gone silent.

Putin drew worldwide publicity in 2008 when he shot the five-year-old female with a tranquilizer gun and helped place a transmitter around her neck. Visitors to his Web site could follow the animal's prowlings through Russia's wild Far East.

Vladimir Krever of the World Wildlife Fund said Wednesday that the satellite tracking device has been silent since mid-September. Hours later, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the batteries on the collar had been run down and wildlife scientists placed a new collar on the tiger a week or so ago.