A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Mexican left protests over vote fraud
MEXICO CITY - Several thousand Mexican leftists marched on the capital yesterday to protest what they say was vote fraud in a presidential election that has divided the nation between left and right.
The marchers, who walked from Mexico City electoral districts to a giant central square in small groups, said they would not back down unless electoral authorities accept leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador as the victor of the July 2nd vote. -(Reuters)
Austria goes to polls in October
VIENNA - Austria will hold a general election on October 1st, the Austrian parliament's president said yesterday, after all parties agreed to bring forward the election day by eight weeks to avoid a lengthy campaign. The Alpine republic would have had to vote by November 26th under its electoral code. Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel's People's Party, ruling in coalition with right-wing populist Jörg Haider's group, has a three- to five-point lead over the biggest opposition party, the centre-left Social Democrats, in opinion polls. -(Reuters)
Serbia opposes breakaway Kosovo
BELGRADE - Serbia will fight with all diplomatic means to keep its breakaway province of Kosovo from becoming independent, but its negotiating position is weak due to its nationalist past, Serbian president Boris Tadic said on Tuesday.
In an interview on state television, Mr Tadic repeated that Serbia could not give up part of its territory, but admitted the legacy of late nationalist leader Slobodan Milosevic meant it had little room for manoeuvre. Mr Tadic said Serbia's opposition was not enough to prevent Kosovo's secession. -(Reuters)
Hindus stage open-air funeral
HEXHAM - Hindus staged their first open-air funeral in Britain for more than 70 years yesterday and hope they can now get the go-ahead to light pyres for all their dead. At an emotion-charged ceremony, the family of an Indian illegal immigrant found dead in a canal bade farewell to him on remote farmland in northeast England. Police had been alerted about the ceremony but allowed it to go ahead after checking all the documentation. -(Reuters)
Spacewalkers practise repairs
HOUSTON - Spacewalking astronauts used a caulking gun and putty knife yesterday to practise repairs in shuttle Discovery's cargo bay as part of Nasa's plan to make sure there will be no repeats of the 2003 Columbia accident.
The seven-hour outing was the third and final spacewalk of Discovery's 13-day mission, which has put Nasa back on track to resume construction of the half-built international space station after a 42-month hiatus. - (Reuters)
EU policy on Belarus a failure
BRUSSELS - The European Union hopes a policy of supporting the democratic opposition in Belarus will eventually end president Alexander Lukashenko's rule, Finland's foreign minister said yesterday.
Erkki Tuomioja of Finland, which took over the six-monthly EU presidency on July 1st, said the 25-member European Union had concluded this year that a policy of trying to isolate Belarus had not worked. - (Reuters)
Woman accused of poisoning husband
SAN DIEGO - A woman accused of poisoning her Marine husband before using his life insurance money to shop, party and have her breasts enlarged will be tried for murder, a judge in San Diego ruled yesterday. Cynthia Sommer (32) pleaded not guilty in March to killing Sergeant Todd Sommer for financial gain. - (PA)