Cyprus yesterday threatened to deport one of the 13 Palestinians exiled by Israel in May as the price for lifting the siege on the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
The Justice Minister, Mr Nikos Koshis, said Mr Abdullah Dawoud (40), must leave the island because he is causing trouble for the authorities, writes Michael Jansen.
"Dawoud has become undesirable because he is refusing to co-operate with the police and associating with suspicious persons," Mr Koshis said. "Dawoud refuses to conform to the terms of his residence in Cyprus, he rejects police protection or escort and moves around without informing the authorities and generally creates trouble." Mr Koshis said he had asked the Foreign Minister, Mr Yannis Cassoulides, to examine the possibility of deporting the Palestinian.
France bans far-right group
PARIS - France yesterday used a 1936 law prohibiting paramilitary groups to ban a far-right organisation frequented by the man who tried to shoot President Jacques Chirac during a Bastille Day parade in mid-July.
The ban on the anti-immigrant Unité Radicale group, which runs a website and publishes magazines and music, was confirmed at the last meeting of Mr Chirac's cabinet before a summer holiday break. - (Reuters)
Farmers urged to stay and resist
HARARE - Civil rights groups and agricultural leaders yesterday urged Zimbabwe's white farmers to defy the looming deadline for them to leave their farms, saying that government plans to seize their land are illegitimate.
The government has earmarked 95 per cent of white-owned farms, about 6,000 properties, for redistribution to landless blacks, and the occupants of about one-third of these have until Friday to leave. Justice for Agriculture, a newly-formed pressure group, urged farmers to peacefully resist the eviction orders. - ( Reuters)
Bush in great health, say doctors
WACO - Military and civilian doctors yesterday declared 56-year-old US President George W Bush in "extraordinary health" after an annual physical examination showed his heart and lung capacity in the top 1 per cent for men his age.
Mr Bush's heart rate is a remarkably low 44 beats per minute, according to a White House report on the battery of tests done at the National Naval medical centre in Bethesda, Maryland before he flew to Texas. - (AFP)
Store says sorry over sending letter
LIVERPOOL - A store manager apologised yesterday to relatives whose deceased mother was sent a payment demand addressed to Mrs Elizabeth Dead Murray Dead.
The family of the pensioner, from Liverpool, say the £29 bill was sent by hire-purchase shop Crazy George's, in Bootle, despite a representative having been told of her death. Mrs Murray (76), from the Walton area of the city, died on June 26th - some two weeks before the letter was sent. - (PA)
Trevi Fountain looter arrested
ROME - A man who defied a new city law banning coin-fishing in Rome's famous Trevi Fountain was arrested yesterday for collecting a bag full of coins.
Mr Roberto Cercelletta (50), was taken into custody for investigation of theft and resisting arrest by police who spotted him collecting coins at dawn. - (AP)
Restraining orders shown to work
CHICAGO - Restraining orders granted by civil courts can protect battered women from further physical abuse by their partners, a study released yesterday by the Journal of the American Medical Association said.
Researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle found that women who took out "protection orders," were four times less likely to report an episode of physical abuse to police during the 12-month period covered by the ban - (AFP)