GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba -- A U.S. military prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay who alleged his superiors suppressed evidence refused to testify in the war crimes case yesterday, one day after revealing that he quit over what he called ethical lapses.

Army Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld, who was called as a defense witness, said he will not testify unless he receives immunity.

His defection has sent ripples throughout the U.S. military's tribunal system, with prosecutors dismissing his claims as "ridiculous" and defense attorneys in other cases seizing on them as proof the government does not share evidence in good faith.

Defense attorneys asked the judge to give Mr. Vandeveld immunity.

"The suggestion he may have something criminal to hide is intriguing and suggests there is something very, very important this commission needs to get to the bottom of," said Air Force Maj. David Frakt, the Pentagon-appointed attorney for Mohammed Jawad.

UNITED NATIONS -- Malaria as a mass child killer would be virtually eliminated globally by 2015 under a plan backed by nearly $3 billion in pledges, officials said yesterday.

With the number of malaria deaths approaching 1 million a year, most of them infants and toddlers, the infectious disease has become a scourge in remote areas of Africa and Southeast Asia.

"So many of our nations have been crippled by malaria," Rwandan President Paul Kagame said.

The plan aims to reduce those deaths to almost zero within just seven years by providing better access to bed nets, indoor spraying, improved diagnosis and treatment, preventative measures for pregnant women and development of new vaccines.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- A mild-mannered anti-apartheid activist yesterday became the third president of South Africa since the end of white rule, vowing to foster unity in a country shaken by a power feud between past and future leaders.

Kgalema Motlanthe is widely seen as a caretaker president until next year's elections, when African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma is expected to take the helm.

BRAMPTON, Ontario -- A Canadian man accused of participating in military exercises and firearms training as part of a group authorities say plotted to storm Parliament and behead the prime minister was found guilty yesterday.

The man's attorney says the plot was a "jihadi fantasy" and that his client knew nothing about it.

A judge ruled that evidence of a terrorist group was "overwhelming." The man is the first person to be found guilty of a terrorist offense in Canada since the country enacted anti-terrorism laws in 2001.

JIUQUAN, China -- China launched a three-man crew into space yesterday, including one who will make the country's first spacewalk -- its most challenging mission since its first orbital flight in 2003.

The Shenzhou 7 spacecraft, China's third manned mission, blasted off atop a Long March 2F rocket into a clear night sky in northwestern China.

The launch was carried live on state television in a display of China's growing confidence in the 16-year manned space program.