A round-up of today's other stories in brief.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq names new leader
BAGHDAD - Al-Qaeda in Iraq said its new leader, Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, who was named yesterday, would keep up a campaign of beheadings and suicide bombings begun by the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed by US bombs last week.
The warning came on a day when violence, including two car bombs, killed at least 34 people. - (Reuters)
N Korea to test missile, says US
WASHINGTON - North Korea is making plans to test an intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach the US and the launch could come soon, American officials said yesterday.
One official said there was some debate over the timing of a possible test but a second official said it could happen within the coming weeks. - (Reuters)
Violent crime in US up 2.5%
WASHINGTON - The number of violent crimes in the US increased by 2.5 per cent last year, the largest percentage gain since the early 1990s, led by more murders, robberies and aggravated assaults, the FBI reported yesterday.
It said the number of murders rose 4.8 per cent, the largest percentage gain in 15 years. - (Reuters)
Composer Gyorgy Ligeti dies at 73
BUDAPEST - Hungarian composer Gyorgy Ligeti, whose work was used to accompany Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, died in Vienna yesterday aged 73, his German-based publisher, Schott Music, said.
Ligeti, the spiritual heir to Hungarian composer Bela Bartok, was at the forefront of the avant-garde in the 20th century and survived both a Nazi labour camp and Hungary's communist dictatorship. - (Reuters)
Bandits kill 14 bus passengers
ADDIS ABABA - Bandits robbed and killed 14 bus passengers in western Ethiopia on Saturday, a government official said yesterday. "The bandits stopped a passenger bus 17km (11 miles) outside of Gambella town on Saturday, pulled out innocent civilians from the bus and killed them one by one," the official said. - (Reuters)
92-year-old breaks abseiling record
PORTSMOUTH - A great- grandmother at the age of 92 looks set to enter the record books after abseiling 67m (220ft) down the side of a tower block.
Pending confirmation, Doris Long has broken the world record for the oldest person to complete an abseil of more than 30 m (98ft), according to a Guinness World Records spokesman.
Mrs Long, of Hayling Island, Hampshire, abseiled down the side of Millgate House, St George's Square, Ports- mouth, on Saturday. - (PA)