A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
Iran warns of 'eliminating' Israel
TEHRAN - Iran will respond to any military attack from Israel by "eliminating" the Jewish state, a senior army commander said yesterday.
"If Israel wants to take any action against the Islamic Republic, we will eliminate Israel from the scene of the universe," deputy commander-in-chief Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said. "Our answer to any military attack against Iran will be strong." - (Reuters)
China punishes Illegal land grabs
BEIJING - China has punished thousands of people for illegal land grabs, following a crackdown on the practice, officials said yesterday.
However the investigation also showed that the amount of land wrongly seized last year was almost two-thirds higher than in 2006 - when premier Wen Jiabao warned that China was at risk of a "historic error" over the practice - the state news agency Xinhua reported.
Land seizures, usually for development, are one of the main causes of protests across the country and have led to riots, with farmers and other displaced residents angry at the disruption to their lives and the minimal compensation they often receive. - (Guardian service)
3-year jail term urged for Snipes
WASHINGTON - Actor Wesley Snipes should serve a maximum three-year prison term and pay a $5 million (€3 million) fine for failing to file his income taxes, US prosecutors recommended in a tax-season court filing.
Making an example of Snipes, after years of "brazen defiance" of US tax laws aimed at cheating the government of $41 million, would help deter other tax avoiders, US attorney Robert O'Neill of Florida wrote in a court document. - (Reuters)
Party HQ raided in Canada
OTTAWA - Elections Canada investigators, backed by police, raided the Ottawa headquarters of the ruling Conservative Party yesterday, in an investigation of its financing practices during the 2006 federal election campaign.
A crowd of reporters watched as two police officers arrived with a trolley-load of crates and entered one of the party's offices. The investigation was linked to Elections Canada's assertion that the Conservatives spent too much on advertising in the election campaign leading up to the January 23rd, 2006 vote. - (Reuters)
Plane crashes on to market
GOMA, Congo - A Congolese passenger plane carrying up to 70 people crashed onto a busy market district after taking off at Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday.
"It is a plane from the company Hewa Bora with 60 to 70 passengers on board," Kemal Saiki, spokesman for the UN mission in Congo, said. - (Reuters)