A round-up of other world news stories in brief
Indonesian election is three-way race
BANDUNG – Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is set for a three-way race in elections in July after former president Megawati Sukarnoputri announced yesterday she would stand.
Mr Yudhoyono, a popular reformer who is heavily tipped to be re-elected, also faces a challenge from vice president Jusuf Kalla, who is expected to confirm his nomination today. – (Reuters)
Thousands march to protect jobs
BRUSSELS – Some 40,000 people marched in Brussels yesterday to demand more government funds to protect jobs in the European Union, saying too much money had been spent on banks that were responsible for the financial crisis.
The rally, staged by the European Trade Union Confederation, came a day after a similar protest in Madrid and ahead of two more marches in Prague and Berlin today, events that organisers say will attract up to 300,000. – (Reuters)
Chad accused of aggression
KHARTOUM – Sudan accused Chad of sending warplanes into its territory twice yesterday, stoking growing tensions between the neighbouring countries.
The accusation comes a week after Chad said Sudan sent rebel forces over its border, raising fears that a recent peace deal could collapse. – (Reuters)
German far-right party fined €1m
BERLIN – A German court yesterday ordered the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) to pay a €1.27 million fine for accounting irregularities, rejecting an appeal by the extremist party. The NPD – a party Germanys domestic intelligence agency has described as racist, anti-Semitic and revisionist – has some 7,000 members. – (Reuters)
Susanna Agnelli dies in hospital
ROME - Susanna Agnelli, a scion of the Agnelli family which controls Italian car maker Fiat and Italys only woman foreign minister, died yesterday at a hospital in Rome. She was 87.
Ms Agnelli, who had been recovering in Romes Gemelli hospital after injuring her femur bone last month, was the granddaughter of Giovanni Agnelli, who founded the Italian auto giant in 1899.– (Reuters)
Father spared jail over vice charge
LONDON – A man who tried to hire a prostitute to take his 14-year-old sons virginity was spared jail by a court yesterday. The Polish national took the boy out in his car and allowed him to pick out the prostitute in the red-light district of Nottingham.
But the 42-year-old father was arrested because the teenager had chosen an undercover police officer, Nottingham Crown Court heard. – (Reuters)