Today's other stories in brief
Proposal to pull US troops from Iraq
WASHINGTON - Democratic leaders in the US Congress have proposed withdrawing all American combat troops from Iraq by next year, saying President George W Bush's war strategy has failed and the United States must instead focus on a brewing storm in Afghanistan.
The move yesterday put Democrats, who took control of Congress in January, on a collision course with Mr Bush, who does not want lawmakers meddling in how he wages a four-year war that has seen escalating violence in Iraq and waning support at home. - ( Reuters)
German killed in Afghanistan
MAZAR-I-SHARIF - A German aid worker has been shot dead in northern Afghanistan as the Taliban and Nato troops fight fierce battles in the south.
The worker for Agro Aid, which builds hospitals and other development projects, was killed yesterday on a road in Shar-e-Pul province. - (Reuters)
Jews warned over Hungary protest
BUDAPEST - Hungary's Jews should stay at home for their own safety when protesters take to the streets again on a national holiday next week, the country's biggest Jewish organisation has said.
Hungary is home to eastern Europe's largest Jewish population of more than 100,000. Violent anti-government protests in September and October last year featured flags associated with fascism, anti-Semitic chants and banners. - (Reuters)
Chinese author (87) missing
BEIJING - The Chinese author of a new book on Zhao Ziyang, ousted as Communist Party chief in 1989 for opposing the Tiananmen massacre, is believed to be under house arrest, according to the writer's Hong Kong publisher.
The whereabouts of Zong Fengming (87), author of Zhao Ziyang: Captive Conversations, has been unknown since he was transferred to hospital on February 24th, one day after he was admitted to another Beijing hospital with minor heart problems, Zong's publisher Jin Zhong said yesterday. - ( Reuters)
Italian jailed for sex exploitation
MILAN - A Milan court has sentenced a man to 14 years in prison for exploiting underage girls in southeast Asia, the first time Italy has jailed someone for sex tourism, according to judicial sources.
Giorgio Samec (56), whose exploits in Cambodia and Thailand first came to light when he was interviewed by a satirical television programme, was accused of trafficking 10 minors between the two countries to push them into prostitution. - (Reuters)
Book Critics Circle finalists named
NEW YORK - Novelists Kiran Desai, Cormac McCarthy and Dave Eggers are among the finalists unveiled for the 33rd annual US National Book Critics Circle prize.
Desai's The Inheritance of Loss, winner last year of the Man Booker Prize, McCarthy's The Road and Eggers's What Is the What were all nominated for the fiction prize. Other finalists are Richard Ford's The Lay of the Land and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun. - ( AP)
Photographer leaps off skyscraper
PARIS - A photo-journalist has committed suicide by throwing himself off the Montparnasse skyscraper in central Paris, police said.
The photographer (27) persuaded security officials at the tower yesterday to let him take shots of Paris from the terrace of the 58th floor, which is usually shut to the public and has no barriers.
A firefighter accompanied him on to the balcony but could not prevent him from leaping to his death. - (Reuters)