A roundup of today's other world stories in brief:
More than 40 Afghans killed by US marines
WASHINGTON- A preliminary investigation by the military says US marines killed or wounded more than 40 Afghan civilians after a suicide attack on a convoy last month, the Washington Postreported yesterday.
The newspaper said work by the naval criminal investigative service would decide whether to call courts martial for the troops involved.
- (Reuters)
Finnish parties agree coalition
HELSINKI- Four Finnish parties agreed to form a new centre-right governing coalition yesterday, setting out a new policy programme for the Nordic country.
The new government will comprise prime minister Matti Vanhanen's Centre Party, the conservative National Coalition Party, the Greens and the minority Swedish People's Party, as had been expected.
- (Reuters)
Algerian anger over US warning
ALGIERS- Algeria yesterday denounced as irresponsible a US embassy alert about possible imminent attacks in the capital Algiers, saying it had caused panic in a city already on edge after three suicide bombings.
"They take us for idiots," interior minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni said when asked about the warning that attackers might be planning to strike in Algiers on Saturday. "Who has an interest in causing panic?"
- (Reuters)
Gaza internet shops targeted
GAZA- Bombs damaged a Christian bookstore and an internet cafe in the Gaza Strip yesterday, Palestinian police said.
Attacks against Christian sites in the territory are rare, but at least 40 internet cafes and video shops have been blown up in the past few months. Many of the bombings were claimed by a previously unknown group, "The Righteous Swords of Islam".
- (Reuters)
Turkey must be patient - Merkel
HANOVER- Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, said yesterday that negotiations for Turkish entry to the EU would take a long time.
She signalled that it was impossible to proceed any faster after Turkey's prime minister, Tayyip Erdogan, criticised Germany for not doing more to speed things up."It has always been said that the overall process will be a long one and the outcome is open," Dr Merkel said.
- (Reuters)
Helicopter hijacked in Belgian jailbreak
LIEGE- Two men hijacked a helicopter yesterday and forced the pilot to land in a prison courtyard in eastern Belgium where they picked up a French prisoner in a dramatic jailbreak. The accomplices paid for a helicopter ride at an airstrip, then produced a pistol and a hand-grenade and ordered the pilot to fly to Lantin Prison near Liège.
- (AP)