Some of today's other world news stories in brief...
Ex-Argentine official takes own life on TV
ARGENTINA - An Argentine former police commander wanted on charges of kidnapping and torture during the 1976-1983 dictatorship has taken his own life on television.
Mario Ferreyra concluded an interview with a local cable channel on top of a water tank at his home, bade farewell to his wife, pulled a gun from his boot and shot himself in the head while the camera was still rolling. - ( Guardianservice)
MDC may boycott meeting on Bill
HARARE - Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) may boycott a meeting to discuss a constitutional Bill that would allow Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe to form a unity government, an MDC official said yesterday.
A powersharing agreement signed by Mr Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has faltered as the two fight over control of key ministries. - (Reuters)
Neo-Nazis jailed for attacks
TEL AVIV - An Israeli court has sentenced a group of local neo-Nazis to prison for a series of violent attacks committed last year.
A court spokeswoman said the Tel Aviv district court sentenced the eight gang members, all immigrants from the former Soviet Union, to jail terms ranging up to seven years.
They attacked Orthodox Jews and homosexuals and vandalised synagogues in central Israel. They also filmed the attacks and posted the clips online. - (AP)
Pope prays for Ukraine victims
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict yesterday prayed for the millions who died in Ukraine's mass famine of the 1930s engineered by Joseph Stalin and said he hoped human rights could no longer be denied in the name of ideology.
Ukraine marked the 75th anniversary of the 1932-1933 famine at a Saturday ceremony that was boycotted by Russia, which rejects Ukraine's description of the famine as a "genocide". - (Reuters)
Tanker freed after ransom paid
ATHENS - A Greek tanker seized by Somali pirates with 19 crew members on board was freed after the owners paid a ransom.
The MV Genius, hijacked in the Gulf of Aden on September 26th, is heading towards the United Arab Emirates after being freed last Thursday, a spokeswoman for Greece's merchant marine ministry said on Saturday. - (Bloomberg)
Rally marks Franco's death
MADRID - Hundreds of people giving Fascist salutes rallied in Madrid yesterday to mark the death of former Spanish ruler Gen Francisco Franco, days after a judge gave up an attempt to investigate the disappearance of 130,000 people during the 1936-1939 civil war and the dictatorship that followed. - (Reuters)