A roundup of today's other stories in brief:
Parties agree to new Israeli government
TEL AVIV - Israel is to have a civilian prime minister and a civilian defence minister for the first time after it emerged that Labour leader Amir Peretz would head the armed forces.
Coalition negotiations have been going on for almost a month but the two main parties, Kadima and Labour, agreed on the division of posts over the weekend. The government's priority policy will be the evacuation of dozens of settlements in the West Bank.
Labour will have the education and defence portfolios and Kadima will have finance, interior and foreign affairs, according to reports leaked to the Israeli media.
- (Guardian service)
Iran's decision on uranium final
TEHRAN - Iran's decision to enrich uranium is irreversible, its foreign ministry said yesterday in defiance of international demands it halt all nuclear work. Iran, accused by Western nations of seeking nuclear bombs, said this month it had enriched uranium for the first time to a level used in power stations.
- (Reuters)
Protests in Nepal continue
KATHMANDU - Thousands of protesters defied a daytime curfew in the Nepali capital yesterday to chant slogans against the king, but the demonstrations seemed less intense and more peaceful than in recent days.
Nevertheless, at least 23 people were injured in clashes with police in different parts of the city, some hit by rubber bullets, according to an official at a private hospital.
- (Reuters)
Four injured in Palestinian fighting
GAZA - Tensions between the Hamas-led government and president Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction flared into a shoot-out at the Palestinian health ministry yesterday, despite pledges to calm an eruption of internal fighting.
At least four people were wounded after gunmen from Fatah's al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades stormed the ministry, where they were confronted by Hamas guards.
- (Reuters)
Tamil Tigers kill six farmers
COLOMBO - Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels kidnapped and killed six farmers from the island's Sinhalese majority yesterday, police said, raising fears of communal clashes that could spark a return to civil war.
The murders capped a day of violence in which the army said it killed three rebels and a deadline for attending peace talks with the government slipped away.
- (Reuters)