MADRID - SPANISH police have arrested a 66-year-old Chilean who tried to smuggle drugs into Barcelona with a cast made of cocaine fitted on a truly broken leg, an official said on Friday.

GENEVA - ITALY will not take part in an upcoming UN conference on racism because of a draft declaration that the foreign ministry says contains anti-Semitic language.

"Foreign Minister Franco Frattini decided that Italy was withdrawing its delegation because it does not approve of the draft declaration, which contains unacceptable, aggressive and anti-Semitic phrases,'' a spokesman said today.

NOUMEA (New Caledonia) - A YOUNG French man has died after he was attacked by sharks while surfing in New Caledonia, police say.

The 19-year-old student's arm was ripped off and his leg bitten when he was attacked "apparently by several sharks" while trying to get back onto a boat with his friend on Friday, police said.