Today's other stories in brief
Political crisis eases in Czech Republic
PRAGUE - Czech prime minister Mirek Topolanek's new centre-right government has narrowly won a confidence vote to end months of political deadlock.
However, Mr Topolanek said yesterday an early general election could still be needed if the government was unable to get its reforms through a divided parliament.
The vote ends for now a crisis which crippled policy- making since an election last June split parliament down the middle between centre- right and left-wing forces. - (Reuters)
Mortars fired at Somali palace
MOGADISHU - Five mortars slammed into Somalia's presidential palace last night and gunfire rattled across Mogadishu in the latest violence, witnesses and officials said.
"Eight mortar shells were fired at Villa Somalia, but only five hit," a senior government source said. President Abdullahi Yusuf was inside at the time of the attack. - (Reuters)
World's oldest woman (115) dies
QUEBEC - Julie Winnefred Bertrand, believed to be the world's oldest woman at 115, died peacefully in her sleep yesterday at the nursing home where she had lived for the last 35 years.
Ms Bertrand was born on September 16th, 1891, in the Quebec town of Coaticook. - ( Reuters)
Castro's 'slow' but sure recovery
MADRID - Cuban leader Fidel Castro is making a "slow but progressive" recovery although his condition is serious due to his advanced age, a Spanish doctor who has examined him said yesterday.
Dr Castro (80) has suffered complications after undergoing surgery on his digestive system but could return to normal activities if he makes a full recovery, according to Dr Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido. - (Reuters)
Britons ignorant of the Holocaust
LONDON - More than a quarter of young Britons do not know if the Holocaust happened, according to a poll yesterday that sparked alarm among Jewish leaders determined that the world should not forget the Nazi genocide.
The poll, conducted by the Jewish Chronicle showed that 28 per cent of 18- to 29- year-olds in Britain do not know if the Holocaust happened. - (Reuters)
'Mona Lisa model' mystery unveiled
FLORENCE - The world's most famously enigmatic woman may have shed some of her mystery. An amateur historian said yesterday he had found the final resting place of the woman some believe inspired Leonardo da Vinci's most renowned painting, the Mona Lisa.
Lisa Gherardini, the Renaissance woman some believe was the model for the painting, died on July 15th, 1542, and is buried in a convent in central Florence, according to Giuseppe Pallantid. - (Reuters)
Rio wants Naomi as its ambassador
RIO DE JANEIRO - The beautiful but violent Rio de Janeiro has invited the pretty but troubled Naomi Campbell to be its ambassador yesterday, two days after she admitted in a New York court to throwing a mobile phone at her housekeeper.
Ms Campbell told the mayor she wanted to raise money for the poor in Rio. - (Reuters)