A roundup of today's stories in brief.
Six days of mourning for ex-president
NEW YORK -Six days of national mourning of former US president Gerald Ford, starting this afternoon with a private service for his family, will include a day of silence on Wall Street, with the major stock markets closed.
The New York Stock Exchange announced yesterday that it would join the Nasdaq in closing on Tuesday, the day of Mr Ford's state funeral in Washington. - (AP)
Four in court over Rwanda genocide
LONDON -Four men appeared in a London court yesterday on extradition warrants from Rwanda where they are wanted on charges of taking part in the 1994 genocide in which more than 800,000 minority Tutsis were slaughtered.
The men, all in their 40s and 50s, were arrested at their homes in co-ordinated raids in various parts of Britain late on Thursday, police said. - (Reuters)
Russia wants tycoon questioned
MOSCOW -Russian prosecutors have asked Britain to question exiled tycoon Boris Berezovsky as part of the investigation into the death of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko, Interfax news agency said yesterday.
It quoted a source in the prosecutor-general's office as saying Russia had sent a request asking for the Russian businessman and others to be questioned. - (Reuters)
Mike Tyson held in Arizona
SCOTTSDALE -Mike Tyson was arrested early yesterday on suspicion of driving under the influence and possession of cocaine after police in Arizona stopped him shortly after he left a Scottsdale nightclub.
Sgt Larry Hall said the boxer was stopped after his car almost struck a sheriff's vehicle while leaving the club at about 1.45am. - (Reuters)
Russian charged with hijacking
PRAGUE -Czech authorities have charged a Russian man of endangering an aircraft's security for trying to hijack an Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Geneva, and said he could face up to 15 years in jail, officials said yesterday.
The man has been held in Prague where the Russian Airbus A-320 made an emergency landing on Thursday. The Russian had tried to force his way into the flight deck but passengers and crew members overpowered him. - (Reuters)
Two US sailors killed in Plymouth
LONDON -Two US sailors were killed after falling overboard from a nuclear- powered submarine as it left the southern English port of Plymouth yesterday, the US navy said.
Two other sailors who fell overboard from the USS Minneapolis-St Paul suffered minor injuries but were later released from hospital, a spokesman for the navy's 6th fleet in Italy said. - (Reuters)
Drinker sold dog to pay for beer
BERLIN -A thirsty German sold his six-year-old stepdaughter's pet beagle to the owner of a bar to pay for beer, the Bild newspaper reported yesterday.
The unemployed man offered to take the dog for a walk and then stopped at a bar where he convinced the owner to buy the three-year- old dog for €40. The bar owner has now returned the dog to its owner. - (Reuters)
World's oldest paper out of print
STOCKHOLM -The world's oldest newspaper is to go out of print and will in future only be published on the internet, the paper said on its website yesterday.
The Post Och Inrikes Tidningar, the official Swedish publication for bankruptcies, company and official government announcements, has been published daily since 1645. - (Reuters)