A round-up of today's other stories in brief
US firefighters plan to oppose Rudy Giuliani
WASHINGTON- A group of American firefighters opposed to Rudy Giuliani, the Republican frontrunner in the 2008 presidential race, are planning to run damaging advertisements expressing scepticism about his 9/11 leadership.
The deputy New York fire chief, Jim Riches, whose son, also a firefighter, was killed in the collapse of the Twin Towers, said: "TV made him a hero, and we'll use TV to take him down."
Mr Riches and other New York firefighters have been voicing opposition to Mr Giuliani, mayor of the city on 9/11, since he launched his campaign for the Republican nomination earlier this year. - (Guardian service)
US airstrikes kill Iraqi allies
BAGHDAD- A group of gunmen killed in US airstrikes in Iraq last week were pro-US fighters, an American military officer said yesterday, despite the military's public statements that they were insurgents.
The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said US military officials had talked to Sunni Arab tribal sheikhs in Taji, just north of Baghdad, to express their regret for the loss of life in the attack, which took place last Tuesday.
Meanwhile, at least 17 people were killed by explosions in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities yesterday, police and officials said.- (Reuters)
Police uncover school killing plot
COLOGNE- German police said yesterday they had prevented a planned killing spree by two teenage pupils in a school in the western city of Cologne.
Local police said the two youths, aged 17 and 18, aimed to "kill and injure" people at their secondary school on Tuesday and then commit suicide exactly a year after an attack by a gunman on a school in a town north of Cologne.
The motive for the planned attack was not clear and police said initial searches had uncovered only two crossbows and air guns at the youths' homes. The guns were not deadly, they said.
The younger of the two suspects committed suicide on Friday, while the second had been taken into custody, police said. - (Reuters)
Berlusconi to launch new party
ROME- Italian centre-right leader Silvio Berlusconi, under attack from his coalition allies, said yesterday he was launching a new party and would dissolve the Forza Italy (Go Italy!) group he founded in the early 1990s.
Surrounded by supporters in a central Milan square, Mr Berlusconi said he would officially present the Party of the Italian People of Freedoms today. "Come with us, against the old fogies of politics to form a great new party of the people," Mr Berlusconi said. - (Reuters)
Floods cause Greek evacuations
ATHENS- Authorities declared a state of emergency in parts of northeastern Greece yesterday after heavy rain caused floods near the border with Turkey, forcing residents of several villages to evacuate their homes.
In the town of Komotini, residents evacuated their homes on Saturday after water flooded their homes. - (Reuters)