A roundup of today's other world news in brief:
Burmese protest leader reported dead
BANGKOK- A Burmese opposition leader who was arrested during last month's mass protests against the military junta died due to torture during interrogation, an activist group said yesterday.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said Win Shwe (42), a member of the National League for Democracy, and four other people were arrested on September 26th because of their active support for and participation in the biggest pro-democracy protests in nearly 20 years.
In Washington, the United States threatened new sanctions against Burma after media reports of the death of Win Shwe.
- (Reuters)
Hostage freed in Afghanistan
KABUL -Taliban rebels freed a German hostage in Afghanistan yesterday after more than two months in captivity, Germany's foreign minister said. The German engineer, Rudolf Blechschmidt, later arrived at the German embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul, an embassy spokeswoman said.
- (Reuters)
More cases of bluetongue found
LONDON- New cases of livestock disease bluetongue have been confirmed in Essex, prompting Britain's farm ministry yesterday to expand the area in which it controls animal movements. "Finding further cases is not unexpected. . . and we expect to see more cases before the end of the active midge season this winter," Britain's deputy chief veterinary officer, Fred Landeg, said in a statement.
Britain's first case of bluetongue was reported in Suffolk on September 22nd.
- (Reuters)
Child dies in Grand Canyon fall
ARIZONA- A four-year-old US girl was killed when she slipped off the edge of the Grand Canyon and fell several hundred feet.
The girl's father immediately scrambled down the cliffs and started mouth-to-mouth resuscitation with the help of a park ranger who abseiled into the canyon, National Park Service spokeswoman Maureen Oltrogge said.
The child's body was 400ft to 500ft below the rim, Ms Oltrogge said.
- (PA)
EU gives Romania farm deal deadline
BRUSSELS- The European Commission gave Romania one month yesterday to overhaul its agricultural payments system or face cuts to hundreds of millions of euro in annual farm subsidies.
"Romania still has time to rectify the situation. . . We have a duty to ensure that the farm budget is properly spent and that irregularities don't occur," agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel said in a statement.
She also said Bulgaria, which joined the EU this year along with Romania, would not face farm aid cuts because it had set up an operational payment system.
- (Reuters)
Poles in no hurry home
WARSAW- About 15 per cent of Poles living and working in England and Ireland do not want to return home, while 30 per cent have not made up their minds, a study showed yesterday. The Mig Research study of Polish migrants showed 17 per cent were planning to stay abroad for up to five years.
- (Reuters)