A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
Skinheads guilty of killing 20 migrants
MOSCOW - Seven teenage skinheads were found guilty by a Moscow court yesterday of killing 20 migrant workers, Interfax news agency reported.
The court said the gang had tried to murder 12 other migrants between August 2006 and October 2007.
Between January and October this year 113 migrants died from racist attacks in Russia and 340 were wounded - up from 74 deaths and 320 injuries in 2007 as a whole, according to the non-governmental Moscow Human Rights Bureau. - (Reuters)
Unlawful killing of Menezes ruled out
LONDON - The coroner overseeing the inquest into the death of Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes, gunned down by police who wrongly thought he was a suicide bomber, ruled out a verdict of unlawful killing yesterday.
Michael Wright said the jury, which has spent about two months hearing evidence about the botched police operation which led up to de Menezes's death on July 22nd, 2005, could only return "open" or "lawful killing" verdicts. - (Reuters)
Death sentence for 'Chemical Ali'
BAGHDAD - An Iraqi court sentenced Saddam Husseins cousin "Chemical Ali" to death yesterday for crushing a Shia revolt after the 1991 Gulf War. It was the second death sentence to be handed down against Ali Hassan al-Majeed. - (Reuters)
Gay rights groups criticise Vatican
VATICAN CITY - Gay rights groups and newspaper editorials yesterday condemned the Vatican for its decision to oppose a proposed UN resolution calling on governments worldwide to decriminalise homosexuality.
The row erupted after the Vatican's observer to the UN told a French Catholic news agency the Holy See would oppose the resolution, which France is due to propose later this month on behalf of the EU. - (Reuters)
Charity Rowling book to go on sale
LONDON - A new book by British author JK Rowling, her unofficial farewell to the adventures of Harry Potter, goes on sale tomorrow.
Proceeds from The Tales of Beedle the Bard, expected to become an international bestseller, will go to a charity for vulnerable children in eastern Europe co-founded by Rowling. - (Reuters)
1,000 Srebrenica bodies unearthed
KAMENICA - Forensic experts said yesterday they have unearthed about 1,000 skeletal remains of Bosnian victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in a mass grave.
Documents recovered from the grave in this village, dubbed "Death Valley", showed the victims were from Srebrenica, forensic experts said.
The eastern enclave was under UN protection when it was overrun by Bosnian Serb forces near the end of the 1992-1995 war. - (Reuters)
Carbon monoxide kills 11 schoolgirls
BEIJING - Eleven Chinese schoolgirls have died in their room from carbon-monoxide poisoning after making a fire to keep warm, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
Twelve girls were poisoned on Monday night at their school in Dingbian county of Shaanxi province. The sole survivor was in serious condition. - (Reuters)
Air strike kills two Palestinians
GAZA - An Israeli air strike killed two Palestinian youths yesterday in the southern Gaza Strip, where mortar bombs were earlier launched at Israel, local residents and hospital officials said. - (Reuters)