A round-up of today's other stories in brief.
Language brief for Romanian commissioner
BUCHAREST - European Commission president José Manuel Barroso yesterday designated Romania's deputy EU integration minister Leonard Orban as the new commissioner for multilingualism.
Romania had nominated Mr Orban, an independent technocrat, after its first candidate, Varujan Vosganian, stepped down following media accusations of corruption and collaboration with the communist-era secret police. - (Reuters)
Fighting as Tamil talks break down
SRI LANKA - Heavy artillery fire resumed in northern Sri Lanka yesterday hours after talks between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels collapsed, triggering fears of a deepening civil war.
Residents in the army-held Jaffna peninsula said fierce shelling began before dawn, a reminder of months of fighting in the run-up to the talks in Geneva. - (Reuters)
Belarus political dissident on trial
MINSK - A Belarussian activist opposed to President Alexander Lukashenko has gone on trial in what the former Soviet state's main opposition leader described as a show trial liable to worsen already poor relations with the West.
Dmitry Dashkevich faces up to two years in prison on charges of membership of an unregistered organisation, the Young Front. - (Reuters)
Berlusconi, Mills to stand trial
MILAN - Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and British lawyer David Mills have been ordered to stand trial on corruption charges, a lawyer for Mr Berlusconi has said.
Mr Berlusconi had been accused of paying Mr Mills, the estranged husband of minister Tessa Jowell, not to reveal details of Mr Berlusconi's media empire. - (Reuters)
E-voting ban in Dutch elections
AMSTERDAM - The Dutch interior ministry has banned a type of electronic voting machine for use in next month's general elections because they consider the machines to be insecure. - (Reuters)