A roundup of today's other international news stories in brief .
Polanski seeks dismissal of sex charge
Los Angeles - Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski has asked a court to dismiss a charge of unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl brought against him 31 years ago.
Lawyers for Polanski filed a request on the basis of evidence in a recent documentary, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired. The request alleged that the film, which had its premiere in Cannes last May, revealed "a pattern of misconduct and improper communications" between the district attorney's office and the judge handling Polanski's case.
"This case serves as a classic example of how our justice system can be abused by an unholy alliance between courts and prosecutors," said a statement from his lawyers.
Polanski (75) has lived in Paris since fleeing the US to avoid a likely jail sentence. - (Guardian service)
Support drops for Cuba embargo
MIAMI - In a dramatic shift, a new poll shows most Cuban-Americans in Florida favour lifting the US trade embargo against Cuba.
Fifty-five per cent of participants in the poll, which signals hope for better US-Cuba relations, opposed continuing the embargo the US has maintained against the communist-ruled island for almost five decades. - (Reuters)
'Witchdoctor' held over killings claim
UYO - Police have arrested a man in southeastern Nigeria who said in a television documentary he had killed 110 children he believed to be possessed by evil spirits, officials said yesterday.
Rights campaigners say fraudulent pastors or "witchdoctors" in some parts of Nigeria convince parents their children are possessed to extort money to perform exorcisms. - (Reuters)
Hamas frees three journalists
GAZA - Hamas security forces freed three Palestinian journalists yesterday whom they had arrested last month and accused of fabricating news critical of the Islamist group, officials said.
A Hamas official said the men were released after they confessed they had "fabricated reports" critical of the Hamas cabinet and security forces. - (Reuters)
Moped thief tries to make amends
VIENNA - A man who stole a moped in Austria 25 years ago has sent an anonymous confession letter to police, enclosing €1,400 in cash to compensate his victim.
"Back then, I had no idea what the immaterial and material scope of such a crime could be, probably due to my lack of maturity at the time," the man wrote in the letter, according to a police statement. - (Reuters)
EU plans ties with ex-Soviet states
BRUSSELS - The EU proposed boosting its ties with Ukraine, Georgia and four other former Soviet republics yesterday in a move likely to anger Russia. European Commission president José Manuel Barroso said the plan, which offers financial aid, conditional free trade pacts and easier travel, gained urgency when Russia briefly attacked Georgia in August. - (Reuters)