A round-up of today's world news in brief
Nuclear data was message to Iran - Bush
WASHINGTON- President Geroge Bush said yesterday he released US intelligence about suspected North Korea-Syria nuclear collusion to put pressure on Pyongyang and send a message to Iran that it could not hide its own nuclear programme.
Mr Bush broke months of silence on the matter after his administration went public last week with accusations that Syria had been building a secret nuclear reactor with North Korean help when the facility was bombed by Israeli warplanes last September.
He said the disclosure, including photos and other information the CIA insisted showed the facility's potential for nuclear weapons purposes, was meant to "advance certain policy objectives". - (Reuters)
Man charged in Jersey case
LONDON - Detectives investigating allegations of child abuse on the island of Jersey yesterday charged a 68-year-old married man with rape, indecent assault and procuring an act of gross indecency. He is expected to appear in court today.
Police also have an arrest warrant for another suspect who is wanted in connection with serious sexual assaults committed at Haut de la Garenne, the care home at the centre of the inquiry. They expect to arrest the man in the coming week.
Claude Donnelly, from the St Brelade district of Jersey, was questioned yesterday about multiple sexual assaults and rapes committed against three girls in the 1960s and 1970s. He is suspected to have raped at least two other people. None of the alleged incidents took place at Haut de la Garenne.
- (Guardian service)
Cuban leadership reorganised
HAVANA - President Raul Castro has reorganised the Communist Party's leadership and consolidated his power as he pushes through reforms two months after succeeding his ailing brother Fidel Castro.
In a speech to the party's central committee published yesterday, the president announced hat a new seven-member executive would preside over the all-powerful political bureau.
He also called a party congress in late 2009, the first in more than a decade, to discuss the future of socialism in Cuba. - (Reuters)