A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Bulgaria told to deal with corruption
SOFIA - Bulgaria can join the European Union next year only if it stamps out high-level corruption and ends a "climate of impunity" that is fuelling rampant organised crime, a top EU official has said.
EU justice commissioner Franco Frattini has urged Bulgaria to show tangible results before May, when it will recommend either to grant it and Romania membership in 2007 or to delay it by a year.
Sofia's socialist-led government has promised to crack down on criminals who emerged in the chaotic period following the fall of communism and who, diplomats say, control large parts of the Balkan state's economy.
Despite years of goading from Brussels, authorities have failed to stop scores of bloody gangland hits that have killed more than 120 people in recent years, or to convict any of the many suspected kingpins who inspire fear among Bulgarians.- (Reuters)
Six shot dead at soccer match
SAN SALVADOR - Six people were shot dead by members of a street gang at a soccer match in El Salvador after they rounded up players and fans and forced them to lie face down on the pitch, according to police.
Police chief Rodrigo Avila said the killers invaded the game on Sunday, forcing players from both teams and about 100 fans to lie down on the field. They separated a group, ordered them to remove their shirts and shot them in the back of their heads.
At least 10 people were arrested. Mr Avila said the assailants belonged to Mara 18, a violent street-gang that sows havoc in poor areas from Central America to the United States. - (Reuters)
Guatemalan troops to stay in Congo
GUATEMALA CITY - Guatemala says it will not withdraw special forces troops serving in Congo as UN peacekeepers, after eight of its soldiers stationed there were were killed in a battle with Ugandan rebels.
Guatemalan army spokesman Jorge Ortega on Monday said the remaining troops, members of an elite force created to fight insurgents , would stay in the Democratic Republic of Congo to complete their mission. - (Reuters)
Activists gather in Caracas for forum
CARACAS - Tens of thousands of international activists have gathered in the Venezuelan capital for the World Social Forum to protest at US imperialism and debate topics from fair trade to indigenous rights.
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, a self-styled socialist revolutionary, has become a regional standard- bearer for left-wing anti-US movements since allying himself with Cuba to become one of the US government's most vocal opponents.
The sixth world forum has registered more than 67,000 participants and starts with a march against imperialism and war. - (Reuters)
Trump sues for underrated wealth
NEW YORK - Who wants to be a millionaire? Not Donald Trump. The real estate tycoon and TV star says he is suing an author who wrote that Mr Trump was not a billionaire and who pegged his net worth at no more than $250 million.
The larger-than-life entrepreneur, known to millions from his reality show The Apprentice, sued the New York Times reporter who wrote TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald and its publisher, Warner Books.
The core of the case is the author's statement that Mr Trump, whose empire ranges from casinos to hotels and construction, exaggerated his wealth.
Mr Trump is seeking $5 billion in compensatory and punitive damages from Warner and author Timothy O'Brien, a reporter who has covered Mr Trump's business ventures for more than a decade. - (Reuters)