A round-up of other stories in brief
Turkish troops cross into northern Iraq
ARBIL -Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq overnight and made a small-scale raid against Kurdish separatists, the latest in a series of forays in recent months, Iraqi and Turkish officials said yesterday.
A Turkish military official said the soldiers acted when they spotted Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants across the border. There were no reports of any casualties. - (Reuters)
Farc to release three hostages
HAVANA -Colombian leftist guerrilla group Farc said it will turn over three hostages to Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, a statement obtained by Cuban news agency Prensa Latina said yesterday.
Farc said it had ordered the release of Clara Rojas, her son, Emmanuel, and Consuelo Gonzalez, all Colombians. - (Reuters)
Judge orders CIA tape inquiry
WASHINGTON -A US judge yesterday ordered the Bush administration to explain whether the CIA violated a court order by destroying videotapes of the harsh interrogations of two terrorism suspects.
US district court judge Henry Kennedy, who in 2005 had ordered the government to preserve information on prisoner mistreatment at the US base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, scheduled a court hearing on the tapes for Friday. - (Reuters)
Sharif election ban upheld
ISLAMABAD -Pakistan's election commission has upheld an election ban on former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, barring him for January's poll.
Mr Sharif, who Mr Musharraf ousted in 1999, was allowed back from seven years of exile last month and has been campaigning for the January 8th general election despite the ban, imposed for past criminal convictions he claims were politically motivated. - (Reuters)
Call for PM to lose rights on peers
LONDON -A parliamentary report into the "cash for honours" scandal will recommend stripping the right to create peers from British prime minister Gordon Brown and his successors, the Guardian newspaper reported yesterday. The report, due to be published today, calls for sweeping changes in the way peerages are awarded in the House of Lords. - (PA)
Amy Winehouse on bail after arrest
LONDON -Singer Amy Winehouse has been released on bail after being arrested last night in connection with an investigation into pervert- ing the course of justice.
Winehouse was arrested yesterday after attending a London police station by appointment. Her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil (25) is currently remanded in custody on charges of perverting the course of justice. He was allegedly involved in a fight in a pub in London in June last year, which left barman James King in need of medical treatment. It is alleged that he and Michael Brown (25) later conspired to pervert the course of justice by offering Mr King money to withdraw his accusation and leave the country. - (Guardian service)