Today's other world news stories in brief.
At least five die in French train crash
ZOUFFTGEN - A double-decker passenger train from Luxembourg collided head-on with a goods train in northeastern France yesterday, killing at least five people - fewer than first thought. Rail officials said the trains were travelling on the same stretch of track because of maintenance work on an adjoining line, and slammed into each other in a wooded area near the Luxembourg border. - (Reuters)
Hewitt may face police questions
LONDON - British cabinet minister Patricia Hewitt said last night she would, if needed, make herself available for interview by police investigating the "cash-for-honours" affair.
London's Evening Standard newspaper reported that detectives on Scotland Yard's inquiry team wanted to question her over the nomination of curry tycoon Gulam Noon for a knighthood in 2002 when she was trade and industry secretary. - (PA)
Militants free most Shell workers
LAGOS - Armed villagers who invaded an oil facility operated by Royal Dutch Shell in the Nigerian delta have freed most of the scores of workers and troops they took captive, the company and police said yesterday.
The attack by the Oporoma community in Bayelsa state forced Shell to shut the Nun River platform, which pumps 12,000 barrels per day of crude oil, further denting output from Africa's top producer after a week-long resurgence of violence.
"So far we have only eight people still left in the custody of the militants," Bayelsa police commissioner Hafiz Ringim said. - (Reuters)
American may face treason charge
WASHINGTON - A California-born convert to Islam could become the first American accused of treason since the second World War after he appeared in al-Qaeda videos, sources familiar with the man's case said.
They said US prosecutors were strongly considering bringing the charges, which carry a maximum punishment of death, against Adam Gadahn (28), who is believed to be overseas and is not in US custody. - (Reuters)
British minister backs veil ban
LONDON - A British education minister said yesterday he backed universities that banned Islamic students from wearing veils, becoming the latest senior figure to step into a high-profile row that has enraged some Muslim groups.
Higher education minister Bill Rammell said many teachers felt "uncomfortable" teaching students who wore a full veil, and said he supported London's Imperial College which had banned students wearing any garment that covered the face. - (PA)
US student feared kidnapped
NABLUS - A US student teaching in West Bank refugee camps was reported missing yesterday, and his project manager said he had been kidnapped. A blurred photocopy of a passport and student card carrying the name Michael Leighton Phillips was sent to a foreign news agency by a group calling itself Ansar al-Sunna.
Palestinian security said they did not know of such a group, and could not confirm that the American had been abducted. Groups by that name operate in Iraq and Lebanon. - (AP)
Madonna to adopt Malawian boy
LIPUNGA - Pop star Madonna is adopting a one-year-old African boy who has lived in an orphanage since losing his mother shortly after birth, the chief of the Malawi village where the boy is from said yesterday. - (Reuters)