A round-up of today's other stories in brief:
Eastern states of US rocked by snowstorm
NEW YORK - A major storm slammed the mid-Atlantic and northeast states of the US yesterday with nearly 60cm (2ft) of windblown snow, nearing record levels as it blacked out thousands of homes and shut down air travel from Washington to Boston.
Wind gusting as high as 97kph (60mph) blew the snow sideways and threatened coastal flooding in New England.
"This is a dangerous storm," New York mayor Michael Bloomberg said as he urged people to stay at home.
Elsewhere, 53cm (21in) of snow fell in Columbia, Maryland, between Baltimore and Washington, and at East Brunswick, New Jersey, Hartford, Connecticut, and West Caln Township west of Philadelphia, the National Weather Service said. - (AP)
Annan asks Bush to aid UN in Sudan
UNITED NATIONS - UN secretary general Kofi Annan intends to ask President George W Bush today what the United States can contribute to a mobile UN force to stop the killings, rape and pillaging in Sudan's Darfur region.
The US has offered military planners for the Darfur operation, who will arrive today. But it has made no offer of air coverage or other assistance for the venture, expected to be comprised mainly of African and Asian troops, who form the bulk of all UN forces.
At issue is the transfer of command from an underfunded African Union force of 7,000 monitors and troops in Darfur to UN peacekeepers. - (Reuters)
Woman died after wrong medicine
GLASGOW - A woman treated at a Scottish hospital died a day after she was mistakenly given medicine intended for another patient, it emerged yesterday. Barbara Maguire (51) was admitted to Glasgow's Stobhill Hospital with a stomach complaint in 2004. She was placed in an emergency ward bed vacated earlier by a female patient. However, Ms Maguire, understood to be from Glasgow, received medicine intended for the previous woman and died within 24 hours. - (PA)
Motorists protest over jailing of man
MOSCOW - Hundreds of motorists drove at a crawl through Russian cities yesterday in protest at the jailing of a Siberian driver for killing a top official in a car crash.
Railway worker Oleg Shcherbinsky was sentenced last week to four years in prison for failing to yield to a speeding Mercedes carrying regional governor Mikhail Yevdokimov. The limousine careered off the road and hit a tree, killing the governor.
His conviction struck a chord among ordinary Russians who must fume in traffic jams while bureaucrats in cars with blacked-out windows jump traffic lights and ignore speed limits. - (Reuters)
Police to crack down before polls
KAMPALA - Police promised yesterday to crack down on election crime before Uganda's February 23rd polls and said more than 430 cases, including registration fraud and assault, had been reported so far.
Police spokesman Assuman Mugenyi said detectives were working to arrest the ringleaders of clashes in the past few weeks and would remain vigilant in case of future violence. - (Reuters)
Opposition party back in parliament
DHAKA - Bangladesh's main opposition party returned to parliament yesterday to end a more than year-long boycott, with its leader, Sheikh Hasina, calling for free and fair elections under a neutral caretaker administration.
She also asked for reforms to the election commission, saying they were necessary to make it truly independent and capable of holding honest polls. - (Reuters)