A round-up of today's other stories in brief
French police arrest suspected radical Islamists
PARIS- French police have arrested seven suspected radical Islamists in the eastern city of Besancon, French radio reported yesterday.
The radio said all those arrested were French nationals whom the police had been tracking for some time. It said they had been spotted doing military-type exercises in woodland with high-calibre guns and wearing camouflage.
However, it was not yet certain that they had links to militant Islamist groups. - (Reuters)
US may not order diplomats to Iraq
WASHINGTON- The US State Department said yesterday it may not need to force diplomats to serve in Iraq as enough staff have volunteered to go to the war zone.
Last month, the department said it might have to order some diplomats to Iraq, where many foreign service officers are reluctant to work because violence still rages four years after the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
Because of a lack of volunteers, the department had roughly 50 positions at the US embassy in Baghdad and at joint US military-diplomatic provincial reconstruction teams around the country that it could not fill. - (Reuters)
232 children freed from DRC militias
KINSHASA- Humanitarian agencies in the east of Democratic Republic of Congo have secured the release of more than 200 child soldiers from pro-government militias, the UN children's agency, Unicef, said yesterday.
It said the release of the 232 children, whose average age was 14, followed a campaign against the recruitment and use of children by armed groups operating in Congo's east, where conflict has driven thousands of civilians from their homes. - (Reuters)
Record price for red diamond
GENEVA- A rare purplish-red diamond ring has sold for 2.97 million Swiss francs (€1.8 million), setting a world record for a red diamond, Christie's said.
British jeweller Laurence Graff bought the ring, whose octagonal stone weighs 2.26 carats and is the largest red diamond to appear at auction, it said. - (Reuters)
Child trafficking ring uncovered
BISSAU- Police in Guinea-Bissau have uncovered a child trafficking network which was preparing to send 52 children to Koranic schools in neighbouring Senegal, security officials in the west African country said yesterday.
Police found the children, aged between six and 11, during a search in the town of Bafata, 150km (90 miles) east of the capital, Bissau, following a tip-off. - (Reuters)
Bill to recognise same-sex couples
BUDAPEST- Hungary's government submitted a Bill to parliament yesterday which will allow couples to legally register either heterosexual or same-sex partnerships.
Under the new law, couples would have the same rights as married heterosexual couples in inheritance, taxation and other financial matters if they registered their partnership. - (Reuters)