A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Briton pleads not guilty to US murders
FRAMINGHAM - A British man accused of fatally shooting his American wife and infant daughter in their Massachusetts home and then fleeing to England pleaded not guilty yesterday to two first-degree murder charges.
Neil Entwistle (27) said nothing as his lawyer entered the plea in Framingham District Court, about 32km west of Boston.
The brief hearing came a day after his extradition from England and nearly a month after the slayings of his wife and daughter. - (Reuters)
Images of abuse infuriate Iraq
BAGHDAD - New images of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison prompted Iraq's president to condemn his close ally the United States yesterday, demanding harsh punishment for "savage crimes" as Iraqis seethed over more humiliation.
In unusually strong language, Jalal Talabani lashed out at Washington as the new images were digested by Iraqis and other Arabs already enraged by insulting cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad which were published in European newspapers. - (Reuters)
Spain eases IVF restrictions
- Spain's parliament passed a law yesterday allowing women undergoing fertility treatment to have more eggs implanted to raise the chances of a pregnancy, in a move likely to upset the Catholic Church.
Previously, only three eggs could be implanted in a woman in a cycle of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) and related techniques, to reduce the number of leftover embryos and cut the possibility of multiple births. - (Reuters)
Smoking deaths forecast 'too low'
- Global annual deaths from smoking are expected to double to 10 million by 2020 but researchers said yesterday the real figure could be much higher.
The projection may be too low because an international survey of 13- to 15-year-olds has uncovered an unexpected rise in young female smokers, widespread exposure to second-hand smoke and the use of other tobacco products. - Reuters
Car mechanics overtake doctors
- Visiting a garage can prove costlier than you think, according to new research which reveals that the average car mechanic in the UK often charges more an hour than a doctor or a lawyer.
A survey for What Car? magazine shows that drivers frequently pay more than £100 (€146) an hour for labour at franchised car dealers. The random testing of 200 dealers across the UK discovered that hourly rates varied enormously. - (Guardian service)
Ballot critics called for questioning
- Egyptian prosecutors have called three judges for questioning after they spoke publicly about abuses in last year's parliamentary elections, judges and the official news agency said yesterday.
The judges said the move was meant to intimidate them because of their public complaints about malpractices in the voting, which was held in stages during November and December. - (Reuters)
50,000 continue cartoon protest
- Tens of thousands of Pakistani Islamists wielding sticks and waving green flags rallied in Karachi against cartoons of Prophet Muhammad yesterday, the latest in a wave of protests in which five people have died.
A crowd of up to 50,000 rallied in the main commercial district of the sprawling southern city, and some burned effigies of US President George W Bush and Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. - (Reuters)