A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Tear-gas fired during polling in Zanzibar
ZANZIBAR - Security forces fired tear-gas and at least one live bullet at opposition supporters in historic Stone Town during an election yesterday on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar which has been marred by allegations of fraud.
About 100 of its supporters had been arrested, the opposition said. - (Reuters)
Protesters want president to go
ABIDJAN - Ivory Coast soldiers and riot police fired warning shots and tear-gas yesterday to turn back protesters advancing on the presidential palace to demand that Laurent Gbagbo should step down when his current term ended at midnight last night. A number of people were said to have been injured.
Opposition youth leaders had repeated threats to force Gbagbo out with street protests if he did not give up the leadership of the world's top cocoa producer, which was split in two by a 2002 civil war which created a rebel enclave in the north. But Gbagbo, bolstered by a UN peace plan which gives him up to 12 more months in office, says he will stay put until elections and has ordered his army to quash any unrest. - (Reuters)
Four tourists die in bus crash
TENERIFE - A bus carrying Swedish tourists to the airport after a holiday crashed yesterday, killing four passengers and injuring more than 20. Police said that the bus, which was travelling on a motorway near Arona, had swerved to avoid another vehicle, overturned and crashed into a car filling up at a petrol station. - (Reuters)
Over 100 killed in Indian train crash
ANDHRA PRADESH - Rescuers gave up hope yesterday of finding any more survivors from a train which plunged into a rain-swollen river in southern India, killing at least 111 people, officials said. The accident occurred in the town of Veligonda after flash floods washed away a portion of the track. - (Reuters)
22 held after riots in Paris suburb
PARIS - Police have taken 22 youths into custody for questioning after three nights of rioting in a north-eastern suburb of Paris, officials said yesterday. The violence began three days ago among residents of Clichy-sous-Bois over the deaths of two teenagers who were electrocuted while fleeing from police. - (Reuters)
Death threat to Omar Sharif
ROME - A message on a website linked to al-Qaeda has threatened death to the veteran Egyptian actor Omar Sharif after he played St Peter in an Italian TV film. In remarks widely reported in Italy the 73-year-old actor, a convert to Islam, said he had "seemed to hear voices" during the filming of St Peter, a two-part mini-series shown last week.
The news agency Adnkronos International quoted the death threat as follows: "Omar Sharif has stated that he has embraced the crusader idolatry. He is a crusader who is offending Islam and Muslims and receiving applause from the Italian people. I give you this advice, brothers, you must kill him."
The actor, who was named Michael Chalhoub, was brought up a Christian. He converted to Islam in the 1950s after marrying the Egyptian film diva Faten Hamama. They divorced after two decades. - (Guardian Service)
Cushnahan heads EU election team
Former Munster Fine Gael MEP John Cushnahan has been appointed head of mission of an 80-strong EU Election Observation Team being sent to Sri Lanka to monitor the presidential election there.