A round up of today's other stories in brief:
Israel cuts contacts with Palestinians
JERUSALEM - Israel stepped up the pressure on the Hamas-led Palestinian government yesterday, severing all direct contacts with what it deemed a "hostile entity" and firing shells into Gaza to combat rocket attacks by militants.
A statement from the office of interim prime minister Ehud Olmert, outlining the new guidelines, said Israel would shun foreign officials who meet Hamas members during visits to the region.
Meanwhile, Norway confirmed yesterday it had frozen aid to the Palestinian Authority, joining a growing list of countries halting assistance to put pressure on the new Hamas government to restart negotiations with Israel.
- (Reuters)
German hostages plead for help
BERLIN - Two German hostages held in Iraq since the end of January have appeared in a video pleading for help, German media reported yesterday. The men in the video were identified by broadcasters as Rene Braeunlich and Thomas Nitzschke.
The German government confirmed it had received a video.
- (Reuters)
Villepin to try to end protests
PARIS - French prime minister Dominique de Villepin will announce today how the government plans to revise an unpopular youth job contract in the hope of bringing more than a month of mass protests and strikes to an end.
Mr Villepin is to present President Jacques Chirac with the "agreed position" of the ruling UMP party on changes to the First Job Contract (CPE) early this morning, sources at the presidency said. After the meeting Mr Villepin will make an announcement, his office said in a statement that gave no further details.
- (Reuters)
Guerrillas take towns in Chad
N'DJAMENA - Insurgents sworn to ousting Chad's President Idriss Deby attacked an army base in the remote southeast yesterday and said they had taken two other towns, in what the government said was an attempt to derail May elections.
An alliance of nine Chadian guerrilla groups, the United Front for Democratic Change (FUC), said it carried out the attack on the town of Haraze Mangueigne, close to the borders with Sudan and Central African Republic, and said it had also taken control of Am Timan and Abou-Deia further northwest.
- (Reuters)
Syria charges senior defector
DAMASCUS - A Syrian military court has charged the former vice-president Abdul Halim Khaddam, the most senior defector from the regime in years, with a string of crimes, including inciting a foreign attack on the country and plotting to seize power.
- (Guardian service)
30 to face Madrid bomb charges
MADRID - A Spanish judge is expected to charge about 30 people with involvement in the 2004 Madrid train bombings today, completing a two-year investigation into attacks which left 191 people dead.
Judge Juan del Olmo will take steps toward a trial that probably would not start before early next year, judicial sources said.
Some 116 people have been named as suspects in the attacks, in which bombs packed in sports bags exploded on four crowded commuter trains. Twenty- five people are already behind bars.
- (Reuters)
Chavez warns US ambassador
CARACAS - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has threatened to expel the US ambassador to Caracas after accusing him yesterday of provoking a recent protest, during which demonstrators lobbed fruit at the envoy's car and chased him on motorbikes.
- (Reuters)