Today's others stories in brief
Appeal over kidnapped journalist
LONDON - The parents of BBC journalist Alan Johnston, kidnapped in Gaza more than a month ago, appealed yesterday for news of his condition after an Islamist group said it had killed him.
British prime minister Tony Blair's office said it was urgently seeking more information on Mr Johnston, who has not been heard from since his car was found abandoned on March 12th.
Graham and Margaret Johnston, who live in Scotland, said in a statement that this was a "desperately worrying time" for them. "We make a heartfelt appeal to anyone who may have knowledge of Alan's situation and wellbeing to contact the authorities in Gaza." - ( Reuters)
EU critical of Moscow violence
BERLIN - EU president Germany yesterday called a Russian police crackdown on anti-Kremlin protesters and media over the weekend "unacceptable" and demanded Moscow explain its actions.
"The excessive use of force that we saw over the weekend is worrying and assaults on the media . . . are unacceptable," a government spokesman told reporters at a news conference. - (Reuters)
Iran releases Swedish workers
TEHRAN - Iran yesterday released two Swedish construction workers who were held for more than a year for espionage.
The two men were detained in 2006 while taking photos of "sensitive military sites" on the Qeshm island near the southern Gulf port of Bandar Abbas, according to Iranian authorities. - (Reuters)
EU constitution should be 'ditched'
LONDON - The European Union should ditch plans for a constitution, British prime minister Tony Blair said yesterday.
Instead, reforms to make the expanded Europe of 27 nations more effective should be included in a conventional treaty, of the kind that has been seen many times in the union's 50-year history. - (PA)
Five found dead in car outside Tokyo
TOKYO - Five people were found dead in a parked car in Japan yesterday, the latest suspected case in the Japanese phenomenon of group suicides among people who meet online.
Three men and two women, all believed to be in their 30s, were found in a car parked by a river bank in Shiga prefecture, some 365km miles west of Tokyo, a police spokesman said. - (Reuters)
Army training scenes condemned
BERLIN - The German Defence Ministry yesterday condemned a German army instructor who was filmed ordering a recruit to imagine he was firing a machine gun at "African Americans" who were insulting his mother.
A defence ministry spokesman told a news conference that the training scenes captured in amateur video footage were being investigated by the ministry. - (Reuters)