A round-up of today's other stories in brief.
Plan to send UN troops to Darfur rejected
ABUJA -Sudan's president has rejected a proposal to send thousands of UN peacekeepers to Darfur to boost 7,000 African peacekeepers there, crushing hopes for a quick solution to a crisis that is spreading across central Africa.
"We want an African force," president Omar al-Bashir told reporters after closed-door African Union
talks in Abuja, Nigeria, at which African leaders were advocating a proposal for an expanded peacekeeping mission that would include UN soldiers. - (AP)
Bomb kills eight in Somalia
MOGADISHU -A suicide explosion killed at least eight people near the Somali government seat of Baidoa yesterday in an attack the administration blamed on rival Islamists backed by al-Qaeda allies. Cars were destroyed and charred bodies were strewn around a checkpoint about five kilometres outside the interim government's sole outpost, witnesses said.
"The Islamic courts are behind this," deputy defence minister Salad Ali Jelle said. - (Reuters)
'Real hope' of cure for Brown's son
LONDON -Medical experts yesterday said Gordon Brown and his family were right to be optimistic about son Fraser's future after the baby was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.
Researchers said there were "real hopes" of finding a cure for the disease, and new drugs offering better quality of life and longevity could be available within five to 10 years. The British chancellor revealed on Wednesday night that his four-month-old son had been diagnosed with the condition. - (AP)
28 face charges on train bombings
MUMBAI -Formal charges have been brought against 28 people for suspected involvement in the July 11th Mumbai (Bombay) train bombings that killed more than 200 people in western India. Thirteen of the accused were in police custody and the rest still at large, police said.
The 28 were charged with murder, handling explosive substances, committing terrorist acts and causing damage to public property in Mumbai. - (AP)
Dinosaur eggs to be auctioned
NEW YORK -A 65-million-year-old fossilised dinosaur nest full of eggs containing tiny raptor skeletons is set to go under the hammer in America tomorrow. The well-preserved nest could fetch up to $100,000 (€76,057) at Bonhams and Butterfields in Los Angeles.
It contains 22 broken eggs, 19 of which contain embryonic remains. - (PA)