THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Dutch student Joran van der Sloot denied Friday that he had anything to do with Natalee Holloway’s disappearance, saying he lied when he told someone privately he was involved.
The statement came hours after Aruban prosecutors announced they were reopening their investigation into the disappearance of the Alabama teenager after seeing secretly taped material from a Dutch journalist.
Van der Sloot was interviewed by the respected Dutch television show “Pauw &Witteman” following reports that crime reporter Peter De Vries had captured him making statements about the case.
“It is true I told someone. Everybody will see it Sunday,” Van der Sloot said, referring to De Vries’ planned television show. De Vries claims to have solved the mystery of Holloway’s May 2005 disappearance with the help of an undercover investigation.
Sri Lanka: Bomb kills 20 on bus
A bomb tore through a packed bus carrying civilians Saturday in central Sri Lanka, killing 20 people and wounding 50 others, the military said. The blast inside the bus occurred at 7 a.m. in Dambulla, a town about 90 miles northeast of the capital, Colombo, said military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara, blaming separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.
Japan: Chinese food scare
Japanese supermarkets, restaurants and schools cleared Chinese food products from their shelves and kitchens Friday in a nationwide scare over insecticide-tainted dumplings. The government said at least 10 people have fallen ill since December after eating imported dumplings. Heightening the scare, investigators said they found a tiny hole in a dumpling bag recovered from a sickened family, suggesting the food may have been deliberately contaminated, said a police official.
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