In Short

A round-up of today's other news stories in brief.

A round-up of today's other news stories in brief.

Colombia's gay couples get new rights

BOGOTA -Same-sex couples in Colombia will have rights similar to their straight counterparts following a court ruling seen as the biggest advance ever for homosexuals in the Roman Catholic country.

In a decision embraced by rights groups but criticised by the church, the constitutional court granted gay couples living together for more than two years the same estate inheritance guarantees as heterosexuals in common law marriages. - (Reuters)

READ MORE

Woman dies after neighbours' torture

BUDAPEST -A Hungarian woman has died after neighbours tortured her and her daughter for months, holding them in slavery, police said yesterday.

"They tortured them with a variety of brutal methods for months," said a police spokeswoman.

"They cut them, burnt them, nailed them to the wall." The neighbours took their money and forced the victims to run errands and perform chores around the house in the small central town of Tapiobicske, she said. - (Reuters)

Soldier rescued four years later

BOGOTA -A Colombian army captain whose family gave him up for dead when he was captured by Marxist guerrillas was rescued in a gun battle yesterday, almost four years after he went missing.

Capt Leonardo Nur was the second kidnap victim released in recent weeks during fighting with guerrilla groups who have taken hundreds of hostages during Latin America's longest insurgency.

Soldiers found Capt Nur tied to a tree after combat in the jungle with fighters from the National Liberation Army, the second largest rebel group. - (Reuters)

Imprisoned poet 'died in isolation'

NAIROBI -An imprisoned Eritrean poet and journalist died while living in "complete isolation and inhumane conditions" in a secret jail for six years, media rights group Reporters without Borders said yesterday. Eritrean officials were not available for comment. Eritrea routinely denies reports by foreign-based rights groups that criticise its human rights record. - (Reuters)