A round-up of today's other stories in brief
'Negligence killed' Chinese cocklers
PRESTON - Total disregard for the lives of 21 illegal immigrants drove an alleged Chinese gangmaster to allow them to die while gathering shellfish on a wild winter night last year, lead prosecutor Tim Holroyde told a Preston court yesterday.
"To allow them still to be out on the sands, literally miles from shore, as the tide came rushing in behind them on that cold night was an act of appalling negligence," Mr Holroyde said, ending a two-day statement. "This is, we say, a very clear case of manslaughter by gross negligence."
Lin Liang Ren is charged with 21 counts of manslaughter and assisting illegal entry. Four others are charged with assisting illegal entry. All five have pleaded not guilty. - (Reuters)
Italian Church joins couples row
ROME - Italy's Catholic Church, jumping into the political fray ahead of general elections in 2006, has served notice to the centre left that it will fight any move to recognise unwed heterosexual couples, let alone gay couples.
Cardinal Camillo Ruini, Pope Benedict's vicar for Rome, effectively read the opposition group the riot act on Monday night in an address to bishops in which he said that recognising such unions would be unconstitutional.
Cardinal Ruini's words were seen as a clear message to the opposition centre left, whose leader Romano Prodi has promised some form of recognition for unmarried couples. - (Reuters)
Russian oil tycoon accused of stalling
MOSCOW - Prosecutors accused Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky yesterday of deliberately delaying his appeal against a fraud conviction while he makes an election bid designed to embarrass the Kremlin.
During a third day of procedural wrangling in the case, the judge ordered an adjournment until tomorrow, saying the court could appoint a lawyer if Khodorkovsky's high- powered defence team did not arrive by then. - (Reuters)
Ministers ban sea-bed trawling
BRUSSELS - EU fisheries ministers have agreed to ban the controversial practice of trawling the sea bed around Madeira, the Azores and Canary Islands to save their unique coral reefs from destruction, officials have said.
Coral has been found at depths of more than 1,000 metres at several sites around the islands - territories of Spain and Portugal - and needs special protection against damage caused by so-called bottom trawls, the European Commission says. - (Reuters)
Lib Dems attack anti-terrorism bills
LONDON - Liberal Democrats in Britain could be on a collision course with the government over proposed new anti-terrorism powers.
In an emergency debate yesterday, the party's conference condemned the July 7th bomb attacks on London's tube and bus network.
However delegates also warned that many of the new powers proposed in the aftermath would undermine civil liberties and risked alienating minority communities. - (PA)
Sweden's deputy PM insults police
STOCKHOLM - Sweden's deputy prime minister faced calls to step down for calling the police "bloody lazy" in a conversation with an aide that was overheard by a journalist who had just interviewed him.
Bosse Ringholm had complained that police were poor at catching shop- keepers who were running illegal slot machines. "It is not so difficult for the local police to go in and check it, but they don't. They are so bloody lazy!" Mr Ringholm said. - (Reuters)