In Short

A round-up of today's other stories in brief.

A round-up of today's other stories in brief.

EU warns Serbia to find Mladic

BRUSSELS - The European Union has told Serbia it has a month to deliver war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic to justice or risk seeing its long-term bid to join the bloc put on ice.

One of the top two war crimes suspects in the Balkans, Gen Mladic has been a wanted man since 1995. - (Reuters)

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Bangladeshis hurt in false alarm

CHITTANONG - Nearly 150 garment workers were injured, 40 of them seriously, in a stampede triggered by a false fire alarm in the Bangladeshi city of Chittanong yesterday. - (Reuters)

'My fault,' admits George Michael

LONDON - Pop star George Michael admitted yesterday that his weekend arrest on suspicion of possessing drugs had been his "own stupid fault, as usual".

The 42-year-old singer had been held on suspicion of possessing class C drugs, a group which includes cannabis, tranquillisers and some painkillers. - (Reuters)

Al-Qaeda suspect arrested in Spain

MADRID - Spanish police have arrested a Tunisian man in Malaga as part of an investigation into an al-Qaeda recruiting network that police cracked in December, the interior ministry said yesterday.

It identified him as Chafik Jalal (44), and said he had two false French identity cards and a fake French driving licence. - (Reuters)

US rejects UN human rights plan

UNITED NATIONS - The US has called the proposal for a new UN Human Rights Council unacceptable and says it will vote against a draft resolution unless negotiations are reopened.

"We don't think it's acceptable," US ambassador John Bolton said yesterday. - (Reuters)

China indicts internet journalist

BEIJING - China has indicted an outspoken journalist and internet writer for "incitement to subvert state power", a rights group has said. Li Yuanlong (45), a reporter for the Bijie Daily , had posted controversial essays on the internet under a pseudonym. - (Reuters)

Livingstone to appeal suspension

LONDON - London mayor Ken Livingstone has lodged papers at the High Court to begin his legal challenge against his suspension and the finding that he brought his office into disrepute for making a Nazi jibe to a Jewish reporter. - (PA)

Key Milosevic witness held

MADRID - Spanish police have arrested suspected Serb hitman Veselin Vukotic, who is wanted for the murder of a Kosovo Albanian human rights activist believed to have had evidence implicating Slobodan Milosevic in dozens of murders.

Police say the arrest could reveal key evidence in the trial of Mr Milosevic in The Hague. - (AP)

New inquiry into Palme death

STOCKHOLM - Swedish police are to requestion some witnesses in the unsolved case of the 1986 murder of prime minister Olof Palme after new information emerged in a TV documentary. Mr Palme was shot on his way home from a Stockholm cinema 20 years ago today. - (AP)