Today's other stories in brief
Berlusconi tax fraud inquiry set to reopen
MADRID - Spain's constitutional tribunal has opened the way for a tax fraud inquiry into Silvio Berlusconi, frozen while he was Italian prime minister, to be reopened, it said yesterday.
Mr Berlusconi, already facing trial in Italy for alleged fraud at broadcaster Mediaset, got the inquiry related to his stake in Spanish TV station Telecinco suspended after he became prime minister in 2001, arguing heads of government have immunity from prosecution.
But the constitutional tribunal said the Italian magnate lost his immunity after his election defeat in April, in a ruling which opens the way for the investigation to begin again. - (Reuters)
Seychelles voters go to the polls
- Seychelles islanders went to the polls yesterday at the start of a three-day presidential election dominated by concerns over economic growth and an acute foreign currency shortage in the Indian Ocean archipelago.
President James Michel faces Anglican clergyman Wavel Ramkalawan and barrister Phillippe Boulle but the poll is expected to be a close race between Mr Michel's Seychelles People's Progressive Front and Mr Ramkalawan's Seychelles National Party. - (Reuters)
Malawi's budget may be delayed
- Political fallout from graft allegations involving former president Bakili Muluzi could delay passage of Malawi's budget and hurt the country's effort to win debt relief in September, the finance minister said yesterday.
The politically powerful Mr Muluzi was briefly arrested on Thursday on corruption charges as part of a controversial anti-graft drive mounted by his president, Bingu wa Mutharika. He was questioned for several hours by investigators from the anti-corruption bureau over accusations he diverted millions of dollars in donations from foreign countries to his then ruling party, his lawyer Fahad Assan said. - (Reuters)
Call for dropping of Zuma charges
- South African trade unionists and communists rallied yesterday to demand authorities drop corruption charges against former deputy president Jacob Zuma.
Mr Zuma is set to stand trial on Monday in a case that could wreck or resurrect his presidential hopes. - (Reuters)
China chemical plant blast kills 12
- An explosion yesterday at a chemical plant in east China killed at least 12 people and forced the evacuation of thousands, Xinhua news agency said.
A reactor blew up in a test run in the factory in Sheyang county in the coastal Jiangsu province, the report said. "Nearly 1,000 rescuers are searching for the possible missing people in the debris and the death toll may increase," Xinhua said. - (Reuters)
Eight al-Qaeda detainees released
- Mauritania has released eight men suspected of belonging to an al-Qaeda-linked Islamic rebel group after 14 months in detention.
Dressed in white robes, the group walked out of capital Nouakchott's central prison late on Thursday to cries of joy and honking of car horns from family members who had come to collect them. They did not talk to reporters. - (Reuters)
Returning army chief dies in crash
- A Romanian military commander died in a car crash yesterday, hours after he returned from Iraq where his 450-soldier battalion had served the US-led coalition for six months, the defence ministry said. - (Reuters)