A round-up of today's other world stories in brief
Presidential race in Poland neck and neck
WARSAW - Free marketeer Donald Tusk and conservative rival Lech Kaczynski are running almost neck and neck as Poland prepares for tomorrow's presidential run-off, which may decide the pace of economic reforms.
Mr Tusk wants European Union newcomer Poland to speed up market reforms to try to catch up with richer partners. Mr Kaczynski has been stressing the need to bolster welfare protection which has been eroded during 16 years of often painful post- communist reforms. - (Reuters)
Bicentenary of Trafalgar marked
LONDON - Queen Elizabeth lit the first of 1,000 beacons across Britain yesterday to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar.
The queen lit the gas-fired beacon next to Admiral Lord Nelson's flagship HMS Victory in Portsmouth, with other members of the royal family lighting beacons in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and London. Earlier, wreaths were laid on the Victory and at Nelson's tomb in St Paul's Cathedral in London. - (Reuters)
Talks called for on EU-Bosnia ties
SARAJEVO - The European Commission has recommended the start of long-delayed talks on closer ties between the EU and Bosnia, the only country in the Balkans without a formal EU roadmap.
"The European Commission has recommended to the council the opening of negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina on a stabilisation and association agreement," its office in Bosnia said yesterday. - (Reuters)
Australian faces execution
CANBERRA - An Australian man convicted of drug charges in Singapore has lost his final appeal for clemency and will be executed, Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer said yesterday.
Nguyen Tuong Van (25) was sentenced to death in March 2004 after being convicted of smuggling almost 400 grams (0.9lb) of heroin from Vietnam.
He was arrested at Singapore's Changi Airport in December 2002, where he was in transit on his way to Australia. - (Reuters)
Foetal stem-cell transplants get OK
STANFORD - US government regulators have approved what would be the first transplant of foetal stem cells into human brains. If successful, the procedure could open the door to treating a host of neural disorders. Recipients will be children who suffer from a rare, fatal genetic disorder. - (AP)
Parking ticket for dead man at wheel
MELBOURNE - A traffic warden slapped a parking ticket on a car - with a dead man slumped at the wheel - outside an Australian shopping mall.
The body of the 71-year- old was discovered in a car park in Melbourne, the Age newspaper reported yesterday. The man had been reported missing nine days earlier and was known to be seriously ill. - (AP)
Disabled girl's parents celebrate
LONDON - The parents of profoundly disabled Charlotte Wyatt enjoyed a double celebration yesterday, their daughter's second birthday and the winning of the latest round of their legal battle over her medical treatment.
Charlotte was born three months prematurely, only the length of a ballpoint pen and weighing just 1 lb. She has serious brain, lung and kidney damage.
Darren and Debbie Wyatt were at the High Court in London to hear a judge discharge his year-old declaration that doctors would not be acting unlawfully if they decided it was not in the child's best interests to artificially ventilate her in a life- threatening situation. - (PA)