A short look at what is happening in the world this morning.
29 militants killed by US in western Iraq
BAGHDAD - The US military announced yesterday that its soldiers had killed at least 29 militants in western Iraq as a second push against guerrillas in the Euphrates valley, a key transit route from Syria to Baghdad, continued.
Military officials also said that six more marines had died in roadside bomb attacks, raising the US death toll since the 2003 invasion to at least 1,948. - (Reuters)
British hackers sent to jail
LONDON - Two British hackers were jailed yesterday for six and three months for spreading a computer "worm" which affected thousands of systems around the world, including some at the US Department of Defence.
Jordan Bradley (22) and Andrew Harvey (23) were part of an international hacking group which created the "TK worm", which surfaced on the internet sometime before February 2003. - (Reuters)
EU spending kept off Paris agenda
PARIS - The leaders of Britain and France promised yesterday at their first meeting in three months to try to put aside their differences, but no progress was signalled on the continuing EU budget row, which British officials said was not on the agenda.
Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Jacques Chirac described their talks as a useful preparation for the EU summit on October 27th/28th near London. - (Reuters)
Police assurance to comedian's son
LONDON - The fugitive son of comedian Ronnie Barker may be able to attend his father's funeral if he agrees to surrender himself to police, it emerged yesterday. Adam Barker 38) is currently on the run after jumping bail following his arrest on suspicion of downloading child pornography from the Internet. He is believed to be in France.
Scotland Yard has said it will handle his case with "sensitivity", suggesting that he would not be arrested at the funeral. - (PA)
Woman in protest shirt put off plane
LOS ANGELES - A woman who was ordered off a plane because she was wearing a T-shirt with an expletive and images of US President George Bush, Vice-President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is to make a civil rights complaint against the airline.
Lorrie Heasley, of Woodland, Washington, said that she planned the complaint over the action taken by Southwest Airlines at Reno-Tahoe International Airport, halfway through her scheduled trip from Los Angeles to Portland, Oregon. Southwest Airlines said that several passengers had complained about the shirt. - (AP)
Lib Dems cleared over poll gift
LONDON - Britain's electoral watchdog has cleared the Liberal Democrats of wrongdoing in relation to the party's largest ever cash donation. The Electoral Commission said it was "permissible" for the party to have accepted £2.4 million (€3.5 million) from financier Michael Brown's company, 5th Avenue, in the run-up to the May general election. - (PA)
Italian smuggling ring smashed
ROME - Italian police said yesterday that they had smashed an international antiquities smuggling ring led by an 82-year-old Austrian tour guide nicknamed "Mozart".
Police said they had arrested five Italian tomb-raiders and had traced some 3,000 archaeological treasures to the Austrian's home, mostly originating from sites near Rome. More than 600 other artefacts were found in Italy in the possession of tomb-raiders employed by the Austrian, the police said. - (Reuters)