Today's other world news stories in brief
Panama wins UN Security Council seat
NEW YORK - Panama has been elected to an open United Nations Security Council seat, a compromise candidate after weeks of deadlock between Venezuela and US-backed Guatemala.
The formal election in the UN General Assembly had been expected after Venezuela and Guatemala withdrew their candidacies last week in favour of Panama, which was then endorsed by the Latin American and Caribbean group. - (Reuters)
Airbus, Air France liable for accident
COLMAR - A French court has found Airbus and Air France liable for damages over a 1992 aircraft crash that killed 87 people near Strasbourg. It cleared six people of criminal responsibility.
The court yesterday ordered the companies to pay compensation to the relatives of those killed. The amount of damages has yet to be determined, although Air France has already paid millions of euro in compensation. - (Reuters)
US diplomat in Poland censured
WARSAW - Poland has summoned the US ambassador to complain about a senior American diplomat's suggestion that a cabinet member critical of the war in Iraq could be dismissed.
A leaked memo quoted the deputy chief of the US mission in Warsaw telling Polish officials that in another country, deputy prime minister Roman Giertych could lose his job if he opposed his government's line. - (Reuters)
1917 revolution remembered
KIEV - Small crowds of mostly elderly people carrying red flags and hammer-and-sickle insignia marched through town centres in Ukraine and Russia yesterday to mark the anniversary of the 1917 Bolshevik revolution.
In Belarus, representatives of communist parties put flowers at a monument to the now widely reviled Vladimir Lenin. - (Reuters)
BNP leader says he is not racist
LEEDS - British National Party leader Nick Griffin yesterday told a jury that a speech in which he described Islam as a "wicked, vicious faith" was not intended to stir up racial hatred and that his criticism of Islam was not a cover for a hatred of all Asians.
Mr Griffin (47) told Leeds Crown Court that although in the early 1990s "the party could be described as racist", and Griffin himself "to a certain extent", that was no longer the case. - (PA)
De Burgh buys war truce letter
LONDON - A rare letter home by an unnamed British soldier, describing the Christmas Day truce with German forces in 1914, has been bought for about 40 times its estimate by singer Chris de Burgh.
De Burgh paid £14,400 (€21,500) for the manuscript against a presale estimate of between £300 and £400 (€448-€598). - (Reuters)
Big poll lead for Chavez
CARACAS - Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has a 22-point lead over his rival in his bid for re-election next month, according to one of the few pollsters that has correctly predicted past votes in the country. - (Reuters)
Annan urges end to cluster bombs
GENEVA - United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan has called for a freeze on the use of cluster bombs in or near populated areas, saying they had "atrocious, inhumane effects" on civilians. - (Reuters)
Italian police say drugs ring broken
ROME - Italian police say they have smashed a major international drugs ring, arresting 60 people in a joint operation with Spain and Argentina. - (Reuters)