A roundup of today's other stories in brief.
Moroccan charged over Madrid bombs
RABAT -Moroccan magistrates have charged a man suspected by police of leading the military wing of the country's main Jihadist group and taking part in bombings in Casablanca and Madrid, his lawyer said yesterday.
Saad Houssaini (38) was charged with "setting up a criminal gang to organise terrorist acts and attempting to compromise the security of the state", his lawyer said. - (Reuters)
Russian oil baron's rare legal victory
MOSCOW -Jailed Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky won a rare legal victory from his prison cell yesterday when a court ruled that questioning on new charges should not take place in Siberia, where he is held. The decision means Khodorkovsky, serving an eight-year sentence for fraud and tax evasion, could fight the charges in Moscow, closer to his legal team and family, his lawyer said. - (Reuters)
New Ambassador to Nigeria
DUBLIN -The Government decided yesterday to appoint Kyle O'Sullivan as Ireland's Ambassador to Nigeria, on the nomination of Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern.
Currently press officer at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Mr O'Sullivan has previously served in Tehran, Brussels and Beijing. He will also be accredited to Ghana, Liberia, Senegal and Sierra Leone.
EU to examine Polish legislation
BRUSSELS -A European Parliament committee said yesterday it would examine whether Polish plans to sack teachers who "promote homosexuality" were compatible with the European Union's anti-discrimination rules.
Polish deputy education minister Miroslaw Orzechowski said last week the government would draft legislation within a month to ban what he referred to as homosexual propaganda at schools. - (Reuters)
Cholera takes toll in Somalia
MOGADISHU -Dozens of residents of the Somali capital fled yesterday following a night of mortar attacks, while another threat - disease - took its toll in the south.
Doctors reported that as many as 22 people died in the past 24 hours in southern Somalia from a suspected cholera outbreak. An insurgent group claimed responsibility for the attacks as elders of the capital's dominant clan accused government and Ethiopian troops of "crimes against humanity" in Mogadishu. - (Reuters)
Israel public sector strike begins today
JERUSALEM -Israel's main public sector union today begins an open-ended nationwide strike to protest against the failure to pay salaries and pensions in some municipalities.
Among those due to strike are workers at Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion airport.
1,000 homeless after Cairo fire
CAIRO -A fire destroyed a shanty town in downtown Cairo yesterday, leaving about 1,000 people homeless, police and firefighters said.
Five people were injured in the fire that engulfed Qalaat el-Kabash and destroyed some 250 wooden and cardboard shacks, said a police officer. - (AP)
Bridge collapse leaves 65 dead
CONAKRY -Sixty-five people were killed after a bridge collapsed under the weight of a truck packed with passengers and merchandise in southeastern Guinea, a senior army official in the west African country said yesterday.
The accident happened as the truck was heading for a local market near the remote town of Gueckedou on Monday. - (Reuters)