A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
Israel's Livni signs Kadima deal with Labor
JERUSALEM -Israel's foreign minister Tzipi Livni's Kadima party has signed a draft coalition deal with defence minister Ehud Barak's Labor Party, moving her a step closer to becoming Israel's prime minister.
Representatives from the two parties, already partners in the outgoing government of prime minister Ehud Olmert of Kadima, initialled the draft accord, which still needs to be finalised and ratified by party institutions. - ( Reuters)
Trouble at Montenegro rally
PODGORICA- Police in Montenegro used tear gas yesterday against demonstrators protesting the government's decision to recognise Kosovo, which many see as a stab in the back for Serbia.
About 10,000 people from across the country protested in the capital, Podgorica, in the early evening. Waving Serbian flags and shouting "Kosovo is the heart of Serbia", they demanded the immediate reversal of the decision. - ( Reuters)
Funds ordered to Ukraine elections
KIEV- Ukraine's top security body has ordered the government of prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko's to allocate some 417 million hryvnias (€63 million) to finance an early parliamentary election that she opposes.
President Viktor Yushchenko, who accuses the prime minister of destroying the ruling "orange" coalition, summoned the National Security and Defence Council, which demanded the government transfer the funds to election officials. - ( Reuters)
Taliban, troops die in Afghanistan
KABUL- Afghan and foreign troops have killed 14 Taliban insurgents and eight civilians have died in a string of attacks, according to Afghan officials and the US military. One US-led coalition soldier was also killed in a roadside bomb attack yesterday.
Violence has surged in Afghanistan, with some 3,800 people - a third of them civilians - killed by the end of July this year, the United Nations said. - ( Reuters)
Son of actor Depardieu dies
PARIS- Guillaume Depardieu, the actor son of Gerard, who lived a life of angry rebellion in the shadow of his celebrated father, has died at the age of 37.
"He passed away early this [Monday] afternoon after having contracted a virus which led to a devastating bout of pneumonia," Gerard Depardieu's agents told Agence France Presse last night. - ( Guardian service)