The rest of today's stories in brief
UN reacts to poll strife in Liberia
MONROVIA - The UN's peacekeeping mission in Liberia said yesterday it has stepped up security measures across the capital after police clashed with angry supporters of the loser in the country's first postwar presidential poll.
In a speech late yesterday that fired up hundreds of supporters, international soccer star George Weah said he would work to stymie the January inauguration of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who won the November balloting to become Africa's first-ever elected female head of state. Mr Weah rejects the results, alleging fraud.
Meanwhile, Liberia's government said it was investigating reports of a coup plot. - (AP)
Vigil for British hostage in Iraq
LONDON - Supporters of Iraq hostage Norman Kember last night called for his captors to release him as they held a vigil for the peace activist.
Friends and colleagues gathered in freezing temperatures in Trafalgar Square and stood for almost an hour in silence. - (PA)
Gay cowboy film lassoes NY awards
NEW YORK - Gay cowboy love story Brokeback Mountain won three of the top four awards from the New York Film Critics Circle yesterday, building momentum as the critics' favourite for Hollywood's top honours, the Oscars.
Earlier the National Board of Review, a New York group of 150 film professionals, academics and students, announced its annual awards, naming George Clooney's McCarthy-era drama Good Night, and Good Luck as best film of 2005. - (Reuters)
Croatian general denies war crimes
THE HAGUE - Croatian general Ante Gotovina, one of the most wanted suspects from the Balkan wars who had evaded capture since 2001, pleaded not guilty yesterday to the murder, persecution and deportation of Serbs in 1995.
Gen Gotovina (50) is charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes, including the murders of at least 150 Serbs by troops under his command in the aftermath of the 1995 Operation Storm, when Croatian forces retook the Krajina region from Serb rebels. - (Reuters)
Father, sons jailed for 'honour killing'
LONDON - A father who ordered his two teenage sons to murder a British university student in a so-called "honour killing", because the victim had made the man's daughter pregnant, was jailed for 20 years yesterday.
The sons of Chomir Ali, aged 15 and 19 at the time of the murder, were sentenced to minimum terms of 14 and 16 years respectively for killing Oxford Brookes University student Arash Ghorbani-Zarin.
Ghorbani-Zarin (19) was found dead with 46 stab wounds in the front seat of a car in Rosehill, Oxford, on November 20th, 2004. - (PA)
Serb court convicts militia veterans
BELGRADE - A Serbian court, in a landmark verdict, yesterday found 14 former members of a Serb militia guilty of war crimes and sentenced them to terms ranging from five to 20 years for killing 200 Croat prisoners of war in 1991.
Eight of the defendants, sentenced for one of the worst massacres of POWs during the 1990s Balkan wars, received the maximum 20 years in jail.
The rest were given sentences ranging from five to 15 years. - (AP)
Opposition leader held in Egypt
CAIRO - An Egyptian court yesterday extended the detention of opposition leader Ayman Nour until December 24th, when it will give its verdict in his trial on forgery charges. Mr Nour says the trial is politically motivated. - (Reuters)