A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Child rescued nine days after earthquake
BALAKOT - Pakistani soldiers pulled a girl alive from the rubble of her home more than a week after a deadly earthquake, officials said yesterday, rekindling hopes that more survivors could still be found.
Six-year-old Taj-un-Nisa was rescued on Monday, nine days after the quake struck her village near the town of Balakot. Another girl was found alive on Sunday at another village near the devastated town in North West Frontier Province. - (Reuters)
Joe Humphries adds: Irish Red Cross chairman David Andrews said yesterday that aid was reaching the victims of the earthquake, despite logistical difficulties.
The charity, which has committed €100,000 to the disaster zone, has helped its Pakistani partners to treat more than 5,000 injured people and distribute more than 130 truckloads of relief goods already. - (Reuters)
Japan minister's visit cancelled
BEIJING - China yesterday cancelled a planned visit by Japan's foreign minister, after Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi infuriated Beijing by visiting a contentious war shrine. Foreign minister, Nobutaka Machimura was to arrive in Beijing on Sunday.
"Given the present situation, the visit is not timely," said a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Kong Quan. - (AP)
Date set for early elections in Italy
ROME - Italy's general election will be held on April 9th, 2006, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said yesterday, confirming speculation that the vote would be brought forward a month. Only Italian president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi can decide when to call an election, but he has already indicated he wants an early ballot to give the next government more time to tackle its heavy workload before summer holidays next year. - (Reuters)
Hurricane heads towards US coast
MIAMI - Tropical Storm Wilma reached hurricane strength yesterday and headed toward the Gulf of Mexico, where it seemed likely to spare battered US oil and gas fields but threatened storm-weary Florida.
The growing Hurricane Wilma also menaced Honduras with 25cm (10in) of rain, compounding the woes of Central America. More than 1,000 people in Guatemala and El Salvador were killed by landslides and floods triggered by Hurricane Stan this month. - (Reuters)
Call for Pinochet to face charges
SANTIAGO - A Chilean judge asked the Santiago Appeals Court yesterday to strip former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet of his immunity from prosecution so he can face charges of embezzlement.
Judge Sergio Munoz has been investigating Pinochet, who ruled from 1973 to 1990, for tax evasion and embezzlement related to an estimated $27 million he held in offshore accounts. - (Reuters)
Senior tax official arrested in Russia
MOSCOW - Russian state security agents arrested a senior tax official as he was handed a $1 million bribe in a plush Moscow hotel, prosecutors said yesterday. - (Reuters)
Court told woman may have erred
DARWIN - A woman who was tied up with her hands behind her back and forced at gunpoint into her attacker's vehicle said yesterday she may have been wrong about being pushed from the front seat into the back.
Briton Joanne Lees (32) was giving evidence for the second day at the trial in Darwin of Australian Bradley Murdoch (47), who denies murdering her boyfriend Peter Falconion. - (AP)