A round-up of today's other stories in brief
British police in Moscow on spy inquiry
LONDON -A team of Scotland Yard detectives left Britain for Moscow yesterday to investigate the death of Russian former spy Alexander Litvinenko.
Nine officers flew out of London as Russia's foreign minister warned that the continued furore over the Litvinenko case risked damaging relations between the two countries.
Meanwhile, Yegor Gaidar, architect of Russia's market reforms, was released from a Moscow hospital late yesterday where he was taken after collapsing at a conference in Ireland, his spokesman said.
Earlier in the day, Russian doctors, at a loss to explain Mr Gaidar's ailment, held a consultation to diagnose him. Spokesman Valery Natarov said information on his condition would be available early today. - (PA)
Deal on Iran sanctions close
PARIS -The six powers seeking a UN resolution to punish Iran for its nuclear programme are nearing agreement on a text, France's foreign minister said yesterday.
High-ranking diplomats from the UN Security Council's five permanent members, plus Germany, will meet in Paris today to discuss imposing penalties on Iran for refusing to stop uranium enrichment.
"I think that we should now reach agreement on this," foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said. - (PA)
Polish minister in sex scandal
WARSAW -The Polish government faced pressure yesterday to dismiss a deputy prime minister after a woman accused him and other members of his party of recruiting employees in return for sex.
The Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper said Andrzej Lepper, one of two deputy prime ministers and the leader of the leftist Self-Defence party, gave a job in his party to a woman on condition that she had sex with him. - (Reuters)
Pinochet serious but 'improving'
SANTIAGO -Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet is still seriously ill following a heart attack but is improving, doctors said yesterday.
"The risk of death is diminishing," Dr Juan Ignacio Vergara of Santiago's military hospital, said. "But it still exists because of all the complications that might arise." - (Reuters)
Gunmen kill Iraqi radio journalist
BAGHDAD-Gunmen shot dead yesterday an Iraqi journalist working for a local radio station.
Nabil al-Dulaimi, a Sunni, had just left his house in the al-Washash area in northwest Baghdad and was heading to work at Dilja radio station when gunmen killed him.
The attack is the latest against Iraqi journalists as the country slides towards sectarian civil war. - (Reuters)
Doctors to check Serb leader
AMSTERDAM -Doctors are to examine Serbian ultranationalist leader Vojislav Seselj, whose health is failing due to a hunger strike, today, the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague said yesterday.
The medical examination had been scheduled for today, but has been delayed by a day. - (Reuters)
2006 may set heat record
OSLO/NEW YORK -The average temperature in 2006 is likely to be among the hottest since records began almost 150 years ago, giving what seems another example of global warming, experts said yesterday.
Autumn and early winter temperature records have been set from the Alps to Moscow this year, hurting ski resorts but extending growing seasons.
Arctic Sea ice shrank to near record lows in the summer. - (Reuters)