Today's other stories in brief
Christians on trial for insult to Turkishness
ISTANBUL - Just days before the pope visits Turkey, two Christian converts, Hakan Tastan (37) and Turan Topal (45), have gone on trial on charges of insulting Turkishness and inciting religious hatred in the course of their missionary work, their lawyer said yesterday.
- (Reuters)
Rwanda breaks off ties with France
KIGALI - Rwanda broke off diplomatic ties with France yesterday in protest at a French judge's call for President Paul Kagame to stand trial over the killing of a former leader, the event which unleashed the country's genocide.
Kigali's foreign affairs minister, Charles Murigande, said the government had given France's ambassador to Rwanda 24 hours to leave the country and told other French diplomats to go within 72 hours. - (Reuters)
Veiled Muslim assistant sacked
LEEDS - A Muslim teaching assistant in a west Yorkshire junior school, who refused to remove her veil in school if a man was present, has been sacked.
Aishah Azmi (24) lost a discrimination and harassment case at an employment tribunal last month. - ( Guardian service)
Armed cartoonist draws his weapon
MIAMI - Armed cartoonist José Varela, with an apparent grudge against his editor, entered the headquarters of the Miami Herald yesterday and forced the newspaper's employees to evacuate the building before surrendering, police said. - ( Reuters)