A round-up of today's other stories in brief
War crimes court 'must not close'
SARAJEVO -The president of the United Nations war crimes tribunal said yesterday that the Hague-based court must not close until all the fugitives from the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s were arrested and tried.
Four indicted war crimes suspects, including Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic and his military chief Ratko Mladic, are still at large and are widely believed to be hiding in Serbia.
"Karadzic, Mladic, Zupljanin and Hadzic must be arrested," Judge Fausto Pocar told a news conference during a visit to Sarajevo. - (Reuters)
EU backs law on 'green crime'
STRASBOURG -European Union lawmakers backed a watered-down law on "green crime" yesterday that would make dumping toxic waste or illegally transporting hazardous materials a criminal offence throughout the bloc.
The draft law obliges its 27 member states to treat and punish as criminal acts a list of nine offences ranging from harming protected plants or species to unlawful trade in ozone-depleting substances.
But it does not set EU-wide sanctions to the dismay of environmentalists who doubt it will have much impact. - (Reuters)
US upholds child pornography law
WASHINGTON -The US supreme court yesterday upheld a provision of a 2003 federal law making it a crime to promote or present material as child pornography.
In a victory for the Bush administration, the court by a 7-2 vote rejected the argument that one part of the law illegally infringed on free speech or other rights guaranteed by the US constitution. - (Reuters)
Nazi accused loses appeal
WASHINGTON -Accused Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk yesterday lost a US supreme court appeal that sought to block his deportation to his native Ukraine.
Without comment, the court refused to hear an appeal by the 88-year-old retired Ohio car worker that argued the nation's chief immigration judge lacked the authority to order his deportation. - (Reuters)
Cardinal rejects Christian priority
PARIS -Iraqi Christians seeking asylum in the West should not receive special treatment based on religion, a Roman Catholic cardinal said yesterday, contradicting French and German calls for priority to be given to Christians.
"If countries are to help by issuing visas, they should be given according to need and not because they are going to Christians or Muslims," said the head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Oriental Churches, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri. - (Reuters)
Minister not to back gay march
ROME -Italy's new minister for equal opportunities has angered rights groups by refusing to back a "Gay Pride" march because, she says, gays no longer suffer discrimination in Italy.
The appointment of Mara Carfagna is seen by some rights groups as a deliberate provocation by conservative prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. - (Reuters)
Royal complains of being 'hounded'
PARIS -French presidential runner-up Ségolène Royal spoke yesterday of being "hounded" after photographs of her praying in a church in Italy were published in a celebrity magazine. Ms Royal is suing Paris Match magazine over what she says was a violation of her privacy. - (Reuters)