A round-up of today's other stories in brief
British rebate is 'creative accounting'
BRUSSELS - EU Budget Commissioner Dalia Grybauskaite criticised Britain's defence of its EU rebate yesterday, saying London was using "creative accounting" in its arguments to keep the multibillion-euro payback.
Ms Grybauskaite said the rebate would grow to €7.7billion by 2013 - up by more than €2 billion - if the system remains unreformed.
She said the EU was looking to Germany's new chancellor Angela Merkel to help break months of deadlock among the 25 EU member nations over the financing of the bloc's 2007-13 budget. "There is a hope this country can play a significant role," said Ms Grybauskaite, who clashed with foreign secretary Jack Straw on Monday in talks over the rebate. - (AP)
UN to question 5 on Hariri killing
DAMASCUS - Syria agreed yesterday to allow UN investigators to question five officials at the UN offices in Vienna in connection with the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, a top official said.
The Syrian move aimed to avert a showdown between Damascus and the UN Security Council after sources in Lebanon said chief UN investigator Detlev Mehlis was close to giving up on Syrian co-operation over demands from Damascus for a legal deal before allowing the five oficials to be questioned. - (Reuters)
Snow brings chaos to UK
- British police and the military were battling through blizzards last night to reach more than 100 vehicles stranded on remote moorland as the first heavy snows arrived. Two metre drifts brought main roads over Bodmin Moor in southwest England to a standstill.
The sudden snow falls caused problems across the UK. Police in the worst-hit parts of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and southwest England reported a spate of rescues and crashes on treacherous roads. Headteachers closed 68 of Cornwall's 273 primary and secondary schools but by 6pm last night, about 2,000 pupils were still stuck at schools waiting to go home. - (Guardian service)