A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Verdict in Saddam trial to be delayed
BAGHDAD - A court trying Saddam Hussein for crimes against humanity could delay its verdict by a few days, the chief prosecutor said yesterday, in a move that would shift the announcement until after US mid-term elections.
The US-backed court had been due to deliver a verdict on November 5th, two days before US elections in which Republicans fear they could lose control of Congress. - (Reuters)
Chad's army suffers reverse
N'DJAMENA - The joint head of Chad's armed forces was killed in fierce fighting with rebels near the Sudanese border yesterday, the defence minister said, in a heavy blow to embattled president Idriss Deby.
Defence minister Bichara Issa Djadallah claimed victory in the fighting and said more than 100 rebels were killed after government forces clashed with a convoy of insurgents. - (Reuters)
Farc car bomb leaves two dead
BOGOTA - Colombian officials yesterday blamed the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), the country's largest rebel group, for a car bomb that killed two people and wounded four more at an army base a day earlier.
The bombing was the second on a military building blamed on Farc in less than two weeks and comes despite an overture by the rebels that they are willing to negotiate hostage releases held for as long as eight years. - (Reuters)
California fire under control
LOS ANGELES - Cooler temperatures and weaker winds yesterday helped firefighters gain greater control of a California wildfire that killed four of their comrades.
Police are hunting an arsonist who faces murder charges if caught. The fire, which has charred 40,450 acres, was 70 per cent contained by yesterday morning. - (Reuters)
Songwriter Wilkin dies aged 86
NASHVILLE - Songwriter Marijohn Wilkin (86), who co-wrote the classic ballad Long Black Veil and other hits, died at her Nashville home on Saturday. Ms Wilkin's songs were performed by numerous stars including Johnny Cash, The Beatles, Patsy Cline and Rod Stewart. - (Reuters)
Abu Hamza appeals today
LONDON - Radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza will today challenge his convictions for incitement to murder and race-hate offences. Hamza (48) was convicted by an Old Bailey jury of 11 of the 15 charges he faced and was jailed for seven years in February. - (PA)
Police consider Olmert inquiry
JERUSALEM - Israeli police have begun initial checks to decide whether to open a criminal investigation of possible illegal activity by prime minister Ehud Olmert.
Justice ministry spokesman Moshe Cohen said yesterday there must be "factual evidence beforehand" before police could begin a criminal investigation relating to the sale of Bank Leumi in 2005, when Mr Olmert was finance minister.
Mr Olmert, whose popularity has plunged following Israel's war with Lebanon, has already been accused of cronyism in his purchase of a Jerusalem apartment in 2004. - (Reuters)
Dinosaurs done in by second meteor
NEW YORK - Dinosaurs were finished off by a mystery meteor that hit the Earth about half a million years after the one blamed for their extinction.
Dr Gerta Keller from Princeton University in the US, insists the Chicxulub impact off Mexico 65 million years ago could not on its own have wiped out the dinosaurs. - (PA)