Today's other stories in brief
UN seeks access to Sri Lanka victims
GENEVA – The UN yesterday accused the Sri Lankan authorities of blocking access to civilians trapped in the former war zone or who have fled to camps for displaced people.
In the latest sign of concern at the government’s treatment of ethnic Tamils and other civilians, the UN said it had no information on the numbers of sick or wounded still in the conflict zone. “We need to have access, I repeat, total access, without the least let or hindrance, for the UN, for NGOs and for the Red Cross,” UN spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said. – (Reuters)
Car bomb kills 35 in Baghdad
BAGHDAD – A parked car bomb ripped through a poor Shia area of northwest Baghdad yesterday, killing 35 people and wounding 72 others near a popular restaurant, police said.
The last large-scale bomb attack was on April 29th, when 51 people were killed in twin car bomb attacks in the Sadr City district of Baghdad. – (Reuters)
Ahmadinejad has three opponents
TEHRAN – Irans constitutional watchdog yesterday approved the candidacies of the four leading figures to stand in a June presidential vote, in which hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is seeking re-election.
Mr Ahmadinejad and two leading moderate candidates, former premier Mirhossein Mousavi and former parliament speaker Mehdi Karoubi, were qualified to run in the June 12th election. – (Reuters)
Spanish judges may be reined in
MADRID – Spanish judges who tried to extradite ex-Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and investigate Bush administration officials over Guantánamo are likely to be barred from doing so again after a parliamentary vote on Tuesday.
Under pressure from foreign governments, members of Spain’s congress almost unanimously passed a resolution which, if translated into law, would end the right of Spanish judges to investigate serious crimes like genocide anywhere in the world in cases where courts in the affected country do not act.
The resolution would restrict Spain, which had been praised by international campaigners, to investigating only cases in which the accused is in Spain or Spaniards are victims. – (Reuters)
Polish leaders’ feud continues
WARSAW – Polands president is free to attend EU meetings, the constitutional tribunal said yesterday, in a ruling unlikely to resolve a long-running feud between the head of state and prime minister.
Prime minister Donald Tusk had asked the tribunal to decide whether he or his arch rival, President Lech Kaczynski, should represent Poland at EU summits after a string of sometimes embarrassing incidents involving the two men.
The tribunal affirmed the governments right to decide Poland’s policy at the summits and said the prime minister presents that policy, but it added:
“The president of Poland, as the countrys highest ranking representative, may decide to take part in a particular European Council session.” – (Reuters)
New Acropolis Museum to open
ATHENS – Greece will open a new Acropolis Museum in June with the aim of bringing back historical monuments currently exhibited in the British Museum in London.
Greece has campaigned for decades to retrieve the Parthenon sculptures from the British Museum but the British Museum has refused to return the treasures. – (Reuters)