A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Opponents of Egyptian vote beaten up
CAIRO - Men in plain clothes broke up a protest against President Hosni Mubarak as Egyptians were voting in the country's presidential election yesterday, beating up some demonstrators who were calling for a boycott of the election.
The men chased and beat up some of the several hundred demonstrators and ripped apart banners calling for a boycott of the election, according to a photographer who witnessed the scene. - (Reuters)
Alarm in crash jet confused pilots
ATHENS - Alarms heard on a Cypriot passenger jet which crashed near Athens last month confused the pilots, who did not realise that there was a lack of oxygen in the cabin, the International Herald Tribune reported yesterday.
The German captain and his Cypriot co-pilot struggled to communicate effectively in English and misinterpreted the alarms, failing to identify problems with the pressurisation of the plane, the report said, citing sources close to the crash investigation. - (Reuters)
Schwarzenegger to veto Bill on gays
SAN FRANCISCO - Aiming to shore up support among his Republican base, a politically weakened Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger seems almost certain to veto a Bill that would allow gay marriage in California, political analysts said.
The Bill was passed late on Tuesday in California's Democrat-led Assembly. The state Senate backed the Bill last week.
A spokeswoman for Mr Schwarzenegger said the governor supports Proposition 22, a voter-approved measure defining marriage as between a man and woman. He also believes the courts are the "correct venue" for deciding on the state's ban on same-sex marriages. - (Reuters)
Ruling coalition may win election
OSLO - Norway's ruling centre-right coalition might remain in power after the election there next Monday in spite of earlier forecasts of a swing to a left-wing opposition coalition led by the Labour Party, an opinion poll revealed yesterday.
The survey for the independent TV2 indicated that the centre-right and its informal far-right ally could win 85 seats in the 169-member parliament, with Labour and its allies winning 84. - (Reuters)
Hurricane sent to 'punish Bush'
JERUSALEM - Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment on President Bush for supporting Israel's pull-out from the Gaza Strip, one of Israel's most influential rabbis said in remarks broadcast yesterday.
"Bush encouraged [ prime minister] Ariel Sharon to expel Gush Katif," Rabbi Ovadia Yosef said in a sermon broadcast on Israeli television, referring to Gaza's largest settlement bloc. "This is his punishment for what he did to Gush Katif. The time will come and he will receive a pounding on his head." - (Reuters)
Warning against too much liver
LONDON - Liver should not be eaten more than once a week - if eaten every week - because it contains high levels of vitamin A, which could cause osteoporosis, Britain's Food Standards Agency warned yesterday. - (PA)