A round-up to today's other stories in brief.
Russia firmly against Iran sanctions
TEHRAN - Hardening its opposition to sanctions against Iran, Russia said yesterday only proof that the Islamic republic was seeking atomic bombs could justify consideration of such measures by the UN Security Council.
The council is awaiting a report on April 28th from the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency on whether Tehran is meeting its demands for a halt to uranium enrichment and answers to queries about its nuclear programme. - (Reuters)
EU to keep arms embargo on China
TOKYO - The European Union's arms embargo on China cannot be lifted without progress on human rights, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said yesterday, despite improving relations with Beijing.
Brussels imposed the embargo after China killed hundreds of pro-democracy protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989, but some nations now back an end to the ban. - (Reuters)
Women who flout dress code targeted
TEHRAN - Police will launch a crackdown on women flouting Islamic dress codes starting today, one day later than previously announced, a police spokesman said. Saturday is the first working day in the new month.
The Islamic dress codes require women to cover all their hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothes or risk lashes, a fine or prison, but increasing numbers of young women ignore the rules. - (Reuters)
Taliban attacks kill seven
KANDAHAR - Taliban insurgents attacked a police post yesterday killing six policemen as gunmen opened fire on a patrol in a separate incident, killing a US soldier, officials said.
Violence has surged in Afghanistan since the Taliban announced last month they had launched a spring offensive. - (Reuters)
Two facing arrest for race attack
BERLIN - German federal state prosecutors yesterday ordered the arrest of two men on "strong suspicion" of racially motivated attempted murder following a brutal attack on a German man of African origin last weekend.
In an incident which has sparked outrage in Germany, a 37-year-old German man of Ethiopian origin, named as Ermyas M, was attacked by two suspected right-wing extremists on Sunday morning in the eastern city of Potsdam, near Berlin. - (Reuters)
Breast-feeding data reveals alcohol link
NEW YORK - Early weaning from breast feeding appears to be one factor that predisposes adults to alcohol abuse and hospital treatment for an alcohol- related diagnosis, according to data from Denmark.
Previous research demonstrated a link between short duration of breast-feeding and alcoholism in men. Dr Holger J Sorensen and colleagues at Copenhagen University examined this relationship in a larger population sample that included women. - (Reuters)
Cardinal differs on condoms
ITALY - A cardinal and one-time papal contender has said that condoms were the "lesser evil" in combating the spread of Aids, making him the latest senior churchman to diverge from the Vatican's opposition to artificial contraception.
Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, retired archbishop of Milan, also suggested that even single women be allowed to "adopt" frozen embryos and carry them to term if the alternative is letting them die in the freezers of fertility clinics. - (AP)