A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Police defend missing girl investigation
Portuguese detectives leading the hunt for Madeleine McCann yesterday hit back at criticism of their inquiry and insisted hundreds of leads were being pursued.
One of them - a potential sighting in northern Portugal - briefly raised hopes that the police may have had a breakthrough, but it turned out to be a false alarm.
Chief Insp Olegario Sousa, who is leading the investigation, said his officers had been following 350 leads and had interviewed more than 100 people. More than 500 apartments and an area 15km around the resort of Praia da Luz, from where Madeleine disappeared, had been searched.
Iran accepts nuclear deal
VIENNA -Iran has accepted a compromise for the agenda of a global meeting on how to fix the troubled nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, averting a collapse of the session after a week of deadlock.
Tehran had blocked consensus for the programme over a phrase "reaffirming the need for full compliance" with the treaty, calling this a blank cheque for Western powers to bully it over its nuclear activity to the exclusion of other treaty issues.
Iran, which denies Western charges of noncompliance with NPT safeguards but has been hit with UN sanctions, agreed yesterday to a footnote in the agenda text stipulating that "compliance" meant "with all provisions" of the treaty.
The 130 member states at the meeting then adopted the agenda by consensus, prompting relieved applause in the chamber. - (Reuters)
Tokyo hit by earthquake
TOKYO -An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.4 on the Richter scale shook buildings in Tokyo yesterday.
Fire department officials said there were no reports of damage or injuries. No tsunami warning was issued.
The quake was centred in Ibaraki prefecture, slightly north of Tokyo, and the focus was at a depth of 40km (25 miles). In March a strong earthquake in Japan killed one person and injured more than 200. - (Reuters)
Jail-bound Hilton makes plea to fans
NEW YORK -Jail-bound socialite Paris Hilton (26) has urged fans to sign a petition to pardon her "mistake" because she provides beauty and excitement to "(most of) our otherwise mundane lives". Hilton was ordered by a Los Angeles judge on Friday to report to a county jail by June 5th to serve a 45-day sentence for violating the terms of her probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case.
Her plea yesterday, on her MySpace website, came as her lawyers filed a notice with the court indicating their intent to appeal. She wrote on her blog: "My friend Joshua started this petition, please help and sihn [ sic] it." - (Reuters)
Nigerian rebels attack oil pipelines
ABUJA -Nigerian rebels blew up three oil pipelines in the country's southern delta yesterday, forcing Italian oil giant Eni to halt production from two oilfields.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said in an e-mail it bombed the pipelines to embarrass President Olusegun Obasanjo in his last days in office and vowed to carry out more attacks in the world's eighth-largest crude exporter. - (Reuters)
Turkey's ruling party feels pressure
ANKARA -Turkey's largest opposition party is poised to strike an alliance with a smaller left-wing party that could further hamper the ruling AK Party's efforts to win a fresh majority in the July 22nd election. Investors fear more political instability and slower economic reforms in Turkey if the centre-right AK Party is forced into a coalition government. - (Reuters)