Other world stories in brief
Annan urges peace talks in Somalia
NEW YORK- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the 15-nation Security Council denounced yesterday a new round of fighting in chaotic Somalia and urged the interim government and Islamists to resume peace talks.
Four days of clashes between Somali Islamist forces and pro-government troops, mostly involving exchanges of artillery and rocket fire, have killed dozens and wounded hundreds, the International Committee for the Red Cross said, sparking fears of a wider war in the region.
Mr Annan was "deeply concerned that the escalation of conflict in Somalia will have disastrous consequences for civilians, who are already suffering from the effects of years of instability and deprivation, compounded by the severe flooding that has recently affected parts of the country," his chief spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said. - (Reuters)
Family refused religious funeral
ROME- The case of an Italian man who died after his doctor switched off a life support system took a new and controversial twist yesterday when Italy's Roman Catholic Church flatly denied his family's request for a religious funeral.
Piergiorgio Welby, whose case riveted Italy for months, died late on Wednesday night. The 60-year-old suffered from advanced muscular dystrophy and was confined to a bed, attached to tubes and spoke via a computer that interpreted his eye movements.
His family, being very religious, had wanted a funeral in his local parish.
But a statement from Rome's Vicarate said it "could not grant" the family's request. It said that unlike some cases of suicide where a religious funeral is permitted because the person who killed himself may not have been in full possession of his mental faculties, Welby clearly wanted to die.
"Welby had repeatedly and publicly affirmed his desire to end his own life, which is against Catholic doctrine."
The statement added that the Church would still be "praying for the eternal salvation of the deceased". - (Reuters)
UN offers help in sentencing case
NEW YORK- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday offered UN help in finding a "humane solution" in the case of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death in Libya for infecting more than 400 children with the Aids virus.
"I am deeply concerned by confirmation of a guilty verdict and a death sentence and, therefore, appeal to the Libyan and the international community to continue working together in a spirit of reconciliation," Mr Annan said in a statement measured in its criticism. - (Reuters)
Assembly meets without Castro
HAVANA- The Cuban National Assembly met for its year-end session yesterday without the ailing Fidel Castro, in another sign that his nearly half a century as Cuba's hands-on leader may be over.
The seat usually occupied by the 80-year-old Castro in Havana's convention centre was empty at the opening meeting, which was led by his brother Raul Castro and other members of the island's Communist Party leadership. - (Reuters)
Pact against sickly thin models
ROME- Italy's government and its fashion chiefs signed a pact yesterday aimed at keeping models who are sickly thin off the catwalk by requiring women to show proof of their good health or risk being barred from shows.
A "manifesto" also bans the use of models who are under the age of 16, saying they risk sending the wrong message to girls of the same age in a delicate pre-puberty phase. - ( Reuters)