A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
Russia says top spy betrayed ring in US
MOSCOW – Russia's domestic intelligence agency said yesterday it had established the guilt of a man Russian media have identified as the spymaster who betrayed a ring of agents operating in the US last year.
Russian media have reported Alexander Poteyev was responsible for betraying 10 Russian agents deported from the US in a cold war-style swap on a Vienna airport tarmac in July.
Poteyev, described as deputy chief of the department that ran spies operating in the US without diplomatic cover, was reported to have fled to the US days before the spy ring was arrested. – (Reuters)
Air France audio recorder found
PARIS – Search parties scouring the sea bed off Brazil's northeast coast have recovered the second flight recorder from the Air France aircraft that crashed into the Atlantic in June 2009, investigators said yesterday.
The discovery of the audio recorder, two days after the flight data recorder was fished up, brings investigators closer to the cause of the crash as it should hold recordings of cockpit conversations during the flight's final moments.
"We can now hope to find out what truly happened within the next three weeks," French transport minister Thierry Mariani said. – (Reuters)
Syrian forces take coastal town
AMMAN – Syrian security forces swept into the coastal city of Banias yesterday, a protest leader said, taking control of another urban centre from demonstrators challenging the rule of president Bashar al-Assad. "They moved into the main market area. The army has sealed the northern entrance and security forces (sealed) the south," said Anas al-Shughri.
Assad, a member of the minority Alawite sect whose family has ruled majority Sunni Muslim Syria for 41 years, is pursuing a violent crackdown on protests seeking his overthrow. Germany and Britain said they were seeking the imposition of EU sanctions against Syrian leaders after a US announcement of sanctions last week. – (Reuters)