Today's other world stories in brief
Poland to send 1,000 troops to Afghanistan
BRUSSELS - Poland has agreed to send 1,000 troops to Afghanistan to help quell an increasingly dangerous insurgency by Taliban fighters, writes Jamie Smyth.
The soldiers will join an existing deployment of 18,500 Nato troops, which is struggling to contain mounting violence and causalities.
Nato secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the troops could be a reserve force supporting operations across the whole country.
Powell opposes Bush proposal
WASHINGTON Former US secretary of state Colin Powell has warned that President George Bush's proposal to redefine Geneva Convention rules on interrogating prisoners could undermine the moral basis of the US struggle against terrorism, writes Denis Staunton.
In a letter to Republican senators who oppose the president's proposal, Mr Powell said it could lead to the mistreatment of American troops captured in Iraq and elsewhere.
Marianne Faithfull has breast cancer
LONDON - British singer and actor Marianne Faithfull has been diagnosed with breast cancer but expects to make a full recovery, her publicist has said. Faithfull (59) has postponed next month's world tour. - (Reuters)