A round-up of today's other world news, in brief ...
Iceland's government in move to join EU
REYKJAVIK – Iceland’s government submitted a proposal to parliament yesterday to authorise the start of negotiations for membership of the European Union.
A spokesman in the prime minister’s office said that the first round of debates on the proposal would probably take place this week and if the plan receives a majority backing, as expected, an EU application could be submitted by July.
Prime minister Johanna Sigurdardottir separately told parliament that Iceland faced more fallout from the crisis that devastated the island last year.
Ms Sigurdardottir said Iceland needs to tackle a 170 billion Icelandic crown (€0.95 billion) deficit between now and 2013. – (Reuters)
Padel resigns from Oxford post
LONDON – Ruth Padel, the first woman elected Oxford’s professor of poetry, has resigned following claims she tipped off journalists about allegations that her chief rival for the post, Derek Walcott, had sexually harassed students.
Ms Padel won the vote nine days ago. But in a statement last night she said: “I genuinely believe that I did nothing intentional that led to Derek Walcott’s withdrawal from the election. I wish he had not pulled out. I did not engage in a smear campaign against him, but, as a result of student concern, I naively – and with hindsight unwisely – passed on to two journalists, whom I believed to be covering the whole election responsibly, information that was already in the public domain.” – (Guardian service)
Norway renews aid to Zimbabwe
OSLO – Norway said yesterday it was renewing aid to Zimbabwe it cut off in 2000, despite worries about what it called “years of misrule, embezzlement and hyperinflation” under President Robert Mugabe.
The Norwegian government, one of the first to renew badly needed aid, said it would give 58 million crowns (€6.5 million) via non-governmental organisations, the World Bank and United Nations, avoiding the government financial system. – (Reuters)
Karadzic claims immunity
THE HAGUE – Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic yesterday filed a 140-page motion arguing the war crimes charges against him should be dropped because he was promised immunity by a top US official in 1996.
Karadzic, arrested and brought to the tribunal for former Yugoslavia last year after 11 years on the run, has said since his arrival that former US peace mediator Richard Holbrooke offered him immunity if he disappeared from public life.
“If the Trial Chamber finds that the Holbrooke agreement is binding on the tribunal, it should order that the indictment be dismissed,” Karadzic and his lawyer said in the motion filed on Monday.
Karadzic, leader of the Bosnian Serbs during the 1992-95 Bosnia war, faces two charges of genocide over the 43-month siege of Sarajevo and the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslims at Srebrenica.
Holbrooke has repeatedly denied the existence of a deal, describing Karadzic’s claim as “another lie from the most evil man in Europe”. – (Reuters)
Suu Kyi to testify at her intruder trial
BURMA – Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will testify today at her trial for violating the terms of her house arrest.
Nyan Win, one of Suu Kyi’s lawyers, said today her defence team was unhappy that it was not given sufficient time to consult with its client about her planned testimony.
Suu Kyi is widely expected to be found guilty for allegedly harbouring an American who swam across a lake to her residence. She faces up to five years in prison.
Suu Kyi pleaded not guilty on Friday but Burma’s courts operate under the influence of the ruling military, and almost always deal harshly with political dissidents.
Two women assistants who live with her, and the foreign intruder, also pleaded not guilty to the charge. – (PA)