Today's other stories in brief
Nigerian oil pipeline fire killed 265
LAGOS - As workers carried away the last charred bodies from a fire that swept through a crowd of Nigerians stealing fuel from a ruptured oil pipeline, the Red Cross said the final death toll stood at 265.
Dozens more were injured when the pipeline, illegally tapped by thieves, caught fire on Tuesday as residents of an impoverished Lagos neighbourhood collected fuel, a senior Nigerian Red Cross official said. - (AP)
Israeli threat to resume attacks
JERUSALEM - Israel said yesterday it would resume attacks against Palestinian militants who fired rockets from the Gaza Strip but insisted it remained committed to a month-old ceasefire in the territory.
In a statement that appeared to rule out a major military offensive in Gaza, the prime minister, Ehud Olmert's, office said: "A directive has been given to the defence establishment to take pinpoint action against rocket-launching squads." - (Reuters)
Yukos executive under investigation
MOSCOW - The Russian prosecutor general's office today said yesterday it was investigating the possible role of a former top owner in the Yukos oil company in the poisoning death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko.
The prosecutor's office said in a statement that Leonid Nevzlin, who is living in exile in Israel, and other Yukos figures wanted by Russia, could have ordered Litvinenko's murder in London last month. - (Guardian service)
PM speaks of India's failure
NEW DELHI - Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh became the first leader of his country yesterday to compare the condition of low-caste Hindus with that of black South Africans under apartheid.
Mr Singh drew the parallel at a conference in New Delhi on social and caste injustices, saying it was modern India's failure that millions of Dalits (oppressed) were still fighting prejudice.- (Guardian service)
German 'kidnap victim' owed €25
BERLIN - A German woman who did not feel like going to work at a fast food restaurant sent her parents a text message saying she had been kidnapped.
Police in the Bavarian town of Straubing said yesterday they had launched a massive search throughout the region for the woman (21) who disappeared on December 23rd but turned up unscathed the following morning, saying the kidnapper had set her free. She later admitted she had made up the story because she owed a work colleague €25, which she could not repay. - (Reuters)
French plebiscite on death penalty
PARIS - The French government will next month seek a constitutional ban on the death penalty, the presidency said yesterday, more than 25 years after the Socialists abolished capital punishment. The amendment is to be discussed on January 24th.
The guillotine, the traditional method of execution in France, was last used in France in 1977 to execute Hamida Djandoubi for the murder of a young girl. - (Reuters)
Blairs unhurt after aircraft mishap
Poor lighting at Miami airport was blamed for a safety scare involving a jumbo jet carrying British prime minister Tony Blair and his family. There were 343 passengers and crew aboard the aircraft which missed a runway exit on arrival from London at about 6:15pm (2315 GMT) on Tuesday, knocking over two runway lights and prompting emergency services to rush to the scene.
"There was no damage to the plane and no injuries to the passengers," an airport spokesman said. - (AP)