A roundup of today's other stories in brief.
Europe urged to improve ties with Belarus
MINSK -The time has come to thaw relations between Europe and Belarus, the chairman of the OSCE, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe said yesterday on a rare visit to the state by a senior western official.
Finnish foreign minister Alexander Stubb was meeting Belarussian president Alexander Lukashenko a week after an election judged by the OSCE to have improved on previous polls but to have still fallen short of international norms. - (Reuters)
17 Chinese freed from Guantánamo
WASHINGTON -A federal judge has ordered the release in the US of 17 Chinese Muslims who have been held at Guantánamo Bay, a landmark ruling that dealt a major setback to the Bush administration.
US district judge Ricardo Urbina read his ruling at a hearing yesterday to consider the appeals by the members of the Uighur ethnic group, who are seeking release from the prison and asking to come to the US. - (Reuters)
Iran criticises six major powers
TEHRAN -Iran has accused six major powers of "unreasonable behaviour" over its disputed nuclear programme, but the EU says it will stick to a dual approach combining diplomacy with the threat of sanctions.
Tehran's accusation against the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany was contained in a letter from its top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, that was delivered to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Monday. - (Reuters)
Italy's overfishing a 'threat' to tuna
ROME -Italy overshot its quota of bluefin tuna last year by five times, showing that rules meant to save the giant fish from extinction were failing, the conservationist group WWF said yesterday. - (Reuters)
Russia to pull back today
JAVA, Georgia -Russia will today pull back from the southern edge of a buffer zone inside Georgia adjacent to South Ossetia, ahead of an October 10th deadline. - (Reuters)