Today's other stories in brief
Al-Qaeda 'seeks to use nuclear weapon'
LONDON - Al Qaeda is trying to acquire the technology that would enable it to use a nuclear device to attack western targets including Britain, a senior British official said yesterday.
"We know the aspiration is there. We know attempts to gather materials are there, we know that attempts to gather technology are there," the senior Foreign Office official said.
The comments at a briefing came days after the head of Britain's domestic spy agency said Muslim extremists were plotting at least 30 major terrorist attacks in Britain which could involve chemical and nuclear devices.
The Foreign Office official, asked whether there was any doubt that al-Qaeda wants to gather nuclear material for use against western targets, said: "No doubt at all." - (Reuters)
Vietnam off list of religious violaters
WASHINGTON- The United States has dropped Vietnam from its list of nations that severely violate religious freedom ahead of a visit there this week by President George Bush, US officials said yesterday.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, also said Uzbekistan had been added to the State Department's annual list of "countries of particular concern" for violating religious freedom.
The list will also include China, Eritrea, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Sudan, they said. - (Reuters)
UN to consider Israeli 'violations'
GENEVA - The United Nations' top human rights body will hold a special session tomorrow to consider a call by Arab and Muslim states for action against the "gross human rights violations" of Israel in Gaza.
The call for the meeting, the third special session held by the newly formed Human Rights Council, was backed by 24 of the Council's 47 member states, the United Nations said yesterday.
Arab and Muslim states said the meeting should "consider and take action on the gross human rights violations emanating from Israeli military incursions in the occupied Palestinian territory, including the recent one in northern Gaza and the assault on Beit Hanoun". - (Reuters)
Militiamen kill 30 in Darfur region
KHARTOUM - Up to 30 villagers were killed and 40 wounded when armed men riding horses and camels attacked a village in the Darfur region of western Sudan, an African Union (AU) official said yesterday.
The attackers are suspected to be "janjaweed", militiamen who have killed across the region, helping to drive two million people into camps. - (Reuters)
Former Romanian PM indicted
BUCHAREST - Romanian prosecutors indicted former prime minister Adrian Nastase yesterday in a landmark anti-graft case, charging him with blackmail and taking bribes worth €1.37 million.
Nastase (56), who headed the ex-communist government between 2000 and 2004, has denied the charges, which were also brought against his wife Daniela Nastase and two others. - (Reuters)
Waltzing good for cardiac sufferers
NEW YORK - Heart attack sufferers can get better by learning to waltz, according to a new study.
Italian researchers found the dance was just as effective as bicycle and treadmill training for improving exercise capacity after cardiac problems.
Patients who tried waltzing also reported slight improvements in their sleep, mood, and ability to do housework and have sex, according to results at an American Heart Association meeting in Chicago.
- (PA)