A round-up of today's other stories in brief.
Nepal rebels call ceasefire as PM named
KATHMANDU - Nepal's king formally named Girija Prasad Koirala as the strife-torn country's new prime minister yesterday, minutes after a spokesman said the veteran politician was on oxygen because of a lung ailment.
An unspecified illness kept Mr Koirala (84) from a victory rally in Kathmandu hours earlier, and marred a day that began with communist rebels announcing a three-month ceasefire.
The temporary truce lifted a key burden on the new government, poised to take control after weeks of protests in which 15 people were killed by soldiers and police. The demonstrations forced the king, who had seized control last year, to reinstate parliament. - (AP)
Opposition leader in Belarus jailed
MINSK - A court in ex-Soviet Belarus sentenced main opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich to 15 days in prison yesterday for leading a big rally the previous day that police said was unlawful.
Mr Milinkevich has become a focus for opposition to president Alexander Lukashenko, accused in the West of crushing dissent in his state lying between Russia and three European Union members. - (Reuters)
Lobsters on ice win reprieve
ROME - An Italian restaurant was fined €688 for displaying live lobsters on ice to attract patrons, in an innovative application of an anti-cruelty law usually affecting to household pets.
A court in the northeastern city of Vicenza ruled the display was a form of abuse, dooming the crustaceans to a slow death by suffocation. - (Reuters)
Sharon Stone wins 'Mail' libel case
LONDON - Hollywood star Sharon Stone accepted an apology and "substantial" libel damages at London's High Court yesterday over a newspaper story saying she left her four-year-old son in a car while dining out.
A Daily Mail story last June said Ms Stone had enjoyed a late night dinner date at The Ivy restaurant in central London, with a "mystery male companion", while her son was left sleeping in a car with her driver for more than two hours. - (Reuters)