In Short

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

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

Iran, Russia to discuss uranium plan

TEHRAN - Top Iranian and Russian officials agreed yesterday to hold talks on a Russian proposal aimed a resolving Tehran's nuclear standoff with the West, an Iranian diplomat close to the talks said.

The proposal, backed by Washington and the EU, involves the creation of a joint Iranian-Russian company to enrich uranium in Russia. The plan has been put forward by Moscow in a bid to allay international concerns that Iran could manufacture highly-enriched uranium on its own soil to build atomic weapons. Iran says it only wants to enrich uranium to a low-grade, suitable for use in atomic power reactors. - (Reuters)

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Putin offers loan to Ukraine for gas

MOSCOW - Russia's President Vladimir Putin yesterday offered Ukraine a commercial loan to help pay for a gas price hike and avoid supplies being cut off from next month, Russian news agencies reported.

Russia and Ukraine are locked in a gas pricing dispute, with Gazprom threatening to cut supplies from January 1st - a step that could hit its huge supplies to western Europe that are piped via Ukraine.

Mr Putin said the loan could be up to $3.6 billion. - (Reuters)

Hopes rise for release of hostages

- German and Yemeni authorities hope soon to secure the release of a former German government minister, his wife and three children, kidnapped by tribesmen in the eastern part of the country, officials said yesterday. "I am certain that there will be a resolution before the end of the year," Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said. He was referring to the kidnapping of Jürgen Chrobog and family. They have been in the hands of Yemeni tribesmen since Wednesday morning, said Mr Steinmeier. - (Reuters)

Jailed for killing unarmed prisoners

- A Croatian Serb recognised in a harrowing war video was jailed for 15 years yesterday for killing unarmed Bosnian Muslim prisoners during the Srebrenica massacre, state news agency Hina reported.

A court in the Croatian capital found Slobodan Davidovic guilty of killing six prisoners after Bosnian Serb troops overran the Muslim enclave in eastern Bosnia in July 1995.

Davidovic (57) was arrested in June after he was identified in a home video filmed in 1995 that showed the prisoners being killed by a Serb paramilitary unit called the Scorpions. - (Reuters)

Islamic colleges to resist expulsions

- Islamic seminaries in Pakistan vowed yesterday to resist a government move to expel all foreign students by the end of the year, while the government said there would be no extension of the deadline.

President Pervez Musharraf has ordered all foreigners studying at the religious schools, known as madrasas, to leave by tomorrow as part of a drive to stamp out terrorism and religious extremism following the July 7th London bombings. - (Reuters)

Caught when the trail went cold

BERLIN - German police yesterday captured two men suspected of stealing from 15 cars and two garden sheds by following their footprints in the snow for several miles. They were checking a car whose alarm had been set off just after midnight in the town of Hoentrop when they found a smashed window and two sets of footprints which they followed more than 10 streets.

The two sets of footprints led them directly to the entrance of a flat where the suspected burglars not only stored their booty but also left their shoes and gloves to dry. - (Reuters)