A roundup of today's other stories in brief.
North Korea and US hold 'lengthy' talks
BEIJING -The US and North Korea held "lengthy and substantive" talks yesterday, offering a glimmer of hope that six- party negotiations aimed at dismantling the North's nuclear programmes may yield progress.
North Korea opened the talks by presenting sweeping demands in return for scrapping its nuclear weapons, starting with the lifting of US financial curbs and UN sanctions.
"Today was a much more substantive discussion," chief US negotiator Christopher Hill told reporters of the meetings between the US and North Korean delegations. "There was certainly a willingness to listen and engage with some of our ideas." - (Reuters)
Taxpayers' money used for door sign
LONDON -Britain's deputy prime minister John Prescott spent £645 (€961) of taxpayers' money to change his door sign, an official document showed yesterday.
Mr Prescott admitted that was the cost of switching the sign on his door from "Office of the Deputy Prime Minster" to "Deputy Prime Minister's Office". In a written parliamentary statement, he also said he had spent £726 (€1,082) on new business cards. - (Reuters)
Miss USA allowed to keep her title
NEW YORK -Miss USA Tara Conner (21), who had come under criticism amid rumours she had been frequenting bars while under age, will be allowed to keep her title, real estate mogul Donald Trump announced yesterday.
"I've always been a believer in second chances," said Mr Trump, who owns the Miss Universe Organisation with the NBC television network. - (AP)
Constable's killers were 'ruthless'
LONDON -The two men facing life in jail for the murder of constable Sharon Beshenivsky were "absolutely ruthless" with no respect for human life, detectives said yesterday.
Ms Beshenivsky (38), a mother of one, was described as "just an ordinary cop doing her duty" as she was gunned down following a bungled armed robbery. Yusuf Abdillh Jamma was yesterday convicted of her murder and Muzzaker Imtiaz Shah earlier admitted the charge at Newcastle Crown Court.
Constable Beshenivsky was killed on November 18th last year. - (PA)
Irving sentence may be altered
VIENNA -An Austrian court could decide today whether to reduce or extend the prison sentence of right-wing British author David Irving, jailed in Vienna on charges of denying the Holocaust.
In February, another Vienna court sentenced Irving to three years behind bars under a 1992 law that applies to "whoever denies, grossly plays down, approves or tries to excuse the National Socialist genocide or other National Socialist crimes against humanity in a print publication, in broadcast or other media." - (AP)