A roundup of today's other world stories in brief:
US approves Bill to bolster ports security
WASHINGTON - The US House of Representatives yesterday approved a Bill bolstering security at US ports, spurred to action by the recent uproar over a failed plan to sell some port management operations to a Dubai company.
The Bill authorises $5.5 billion for port security and requires the government to finish installing radiation screening equipment at major US ports by the end of 2007. It would let the US reject cargo from countries that refuse to co-operate with any beefed-up security checks abroad.
- (Reuters)
Row over bishops' papal blessing
VATICAN CITY - Four Chinese bishops at the centre of a row between Beijing and Rome could be excommunicated, but the Catholic Church is not jumping to any conclusions, Pope Benedict's spokesman said yesterday.
The appointment by China's state-run Catholic church of two bishops without the Pope's blessing was "a grave violation of religious freedom", Mgr Joaquin Navarro-Valls said.
- (Reuters)
No tsunami fears after new quake
NUKU'ALOFA, TONGA - An earthquake measuring 6.0 hit Tonga yesterday, but residents in the capital, Nuku'alofa, said they felt nothing, unlike a powerful undersea quake the previous day which sparked tsunami fears across the South Pacific.
The second quake struck at 12.25am local time 135km north east of Nuku'alofa, and 2,115km northeast of Auckland, New Zealand, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.
"We don't expect any tsunami warnings," Julie Martinez of the USGS told Sky Television of the latest quake.
- (Reuters)
Concussed Stone 'in good spirits'
LOS ANGELES - Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards was "in good spirits" as he remained under observation in New Zealand after a mild concussion, the band's spokeswoman said yesterday.
She denied, however, that the 62-year-old rocker would require a drill through his skull to drain blood from his brain, as some news reports have suggested. She said the European leg of the band's world tour would begin as scheduled on May 27th in Barcelona.
- (Reuters)
Guantánamo men lose court attempt
LONDON - Three British residents held prisoner in Guantánamo Bay lost a court move yesterday to force the British government to try to get them freed.
Britain has secured the release of all nine British citizens held at the US prison camp in Cuba, but at least three other men who lived in Britain as permanent residents without citizenship remain prisoners.
- (Reuters)
Maoist rebels to join peace talks
KATHMANDU - Nepal's Maoist rebels welcomed yesterday a ceasefire announced by the new, multiparty government and said they would join talks to try and end a decade-old insurgency that has killed thousands.
The Maoist reaction came a day after new prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala's government announced an indefinite truce to match a ceasefire declared by the insurgents last week.
- (Reuters)
Picasso portrait fetches €95m
NEW YORK - Picasso's 1941 portrait of his mistress, Dora Maar With Cat, sold for an astounding $95 million at Sotheby's on Wednesday, becoming the second most expensive painting in auction history.
The work depicts Maar, the photographer Picasso was romantically involved with for a decade, seated in a chair with a cat perched on the back.
- (Reuters)