A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Five jailed for race-hate magazine
LONDON - Five men have been jailed for publishing and distributing race-hate material in an extreme right- wing magazine which a judge described as "offensive, shocking and explicit".
The men were sentenced yesterday to a total of 15 years in jail for promoting the magazine Stormer, which featured anti-Semitic articles, advocated the firebombing of synagogues and offered a guide to making bombs. - (Reuters)
EU warns Belarus on human rights
BRUSSELS - The EU will send a warning to Belarus and its president, Alexander Lukashenko, on Monday that it will impose further sanctions against the former Soviet republic unless it improves human rights.
EU foreign ministers will issue a tough statement expressing deep concern with the deterioration of rights and political freedoms in Belarus, diplomats said. - (Reuters)
Sentenced for king 'torture' remark
MADRID - The Spanish Supreme Court has sentenced the leader of an outlawed Basque party to a year in prison for calling King Juan Carlos the "leader of the torturers".
Arnaldo Otegi, leader of Batasuna, is unlikely to serve his sentence because it is his first conviction and is below the two-year minimum term required for a first offender to go to prison under Spanish law. - (Reuters)
Disturbances in Ethiopia spread
ADDIS ABABA - Political unrest has erupted beyond Ethiopia's capital for the first time in a development likely to deepen concern for the African giant's stability after days of bloody disturbances in Addis Ababa.
In Addis Ababa yesterday, some calm returned despite early sporadic gunfire as police scattered groups of protesters. There was no repeat of the street battles seen on the three previous days in which 42 people were killed. - (Reuters)
Women MPs' coverage protest
OSLO - A protest by Norway's woman politicians against the media's focus on their fashion sense appeared to backfire yesterday, when tabloid newspapers carried even wider coverage than usual of the women's appearance. Eight new parliamentarians wore traditional costume rather than ballgowns to a royal banquet on Thursday. - (Reuters)
Call for Shannon inspections
DUBLIN - US military or Central Intelligence Agency aircraft landing at Shannon airport should be inspected to ensure they are not transporting prisoners for "torture and inhuman treatment", Labour's foreign affairs spokesman, Michael D Higgins, said last night.
He is to raise the issue "as a matter of priority" with Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern in the Dáil next week.
Syria to allow questioning
LONDON - Syria will let UN investigators of the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri question Syrian officials in Damascus on their own, according to the Syrian ambassador to London.
The chief UN investigator had complained that Syrian security figures interviewed in Damascus last month appeared to give only prepared responses. The Syrians had insisted that other officials attend the interviews. - (Reuters)
Annan postpones visit to Tehran
NEW YORK - Secretary- General of the UN Kofi Annan has postponed a trip to Tehran in the wake of the Iranian president's threat to "wipe Israel off the map", according to UN sources and a US congressmen. Mr Annan had planned to visit the Iranian capital on a swing through the Middle East, beginning next week. - (Reuters)