A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
Solzhenitsyn buried in monastery
MOSCOW -Russian mourners buried Soviet-era dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn in a 16th-century Moscow monastery yesterday during an elaborate religious ceremony attended by President Dmitry Medvedev.
Hundreds of elderly Russians came to bid farewell to the Nobel laureate, whose body lay wrapped in cloths and red roses for several hours in an open coffin in the Russian Orthodox ceremony.
Solzhenitsyn was buried in the monastery's grounds after the service, which was broadcast on state television and had all the hallmarks of a state funeral. - ( Reuters)
Karadzic wants Holbrooke in court
AMSTERDAM- Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic demanded yesterday that former US peace mediator Richard Holbrooke and former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright appear at the UN war crimes tribunal to back his claims of an immunity offer from the US.
Karadzic, who was transferred to The Hague last week to face war crimes and genocide charges after 11 years on the run, challenged the legality of the case against him, a filing released by the tribunal showed.
He repeated his claims that in 1996 Mr Holbrooke had offered him immunity from the tribunal if he disappeared from public life. - ( Reuters)
End to Zimbabwe violence urged
HARARE- Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change yesterday called on their supporters to end political violence, the most tangible sign of progress since powersharing talks began two weeks ago.
In a joint statement, they urged "all our supporters and members and any organs and structures under the direction and control of our respective parties to stop and desist the perpetration of violence in any form". - ( Reuters)
Shakespeare theatre found
LONDON- Archaeologists have discovered the remains of the theatre where Shakespeare's plays were first performed.
The find, believed to be a section of one of London's earliest playhouses, was unearthed as the site was being prepared for the construction of a new theatre.
Experts thought for years that an open-air playhouse, called the Theatre, stood in the Shoreditch area of London, but its exact location had been uncertain. - ( PA)
Canada to escort Somalia food aid
NAIROBI- Canada is deploying a frigate off Somalia to escort UN World Food Programme ships carrying vital aid and protect them from pirate attacks.
"Food supplies are urgently needed in Somalia but deteriorating security has made delivery difficult by land and sea," Canadian defence minister Peter Gordon MacKay said yesterday. - (Reuters)
Turkish academics resign in protest
ANKARA- More than a dozen senior Turkish academics resigned yesterday in protest at President Abdullah Gul's choice of university rectors, a sign of renewed tensions between the secularist establishment and the government.
Turkish media said several rectors who support the ruling AK Party had been picked over secularist professors. - ( Reuters)
Iraq fails to agree on elections law
BAGHDAD- Iraq's parliament failed to reach agreement on an elections law yesterday, probably delaying into 2009 local polls that the US and UN have pushed hard to be held as soon as possible. - ( Reuters)