A round-up of today's other stories in brief.
40 killed as train derails in Pakistan
MEHRABPUR -A Pakistani express train packed with holiday travellers derailed yesterday killing about 40 people and injuring more than 120, officials said.
The Karachi Express night train was on its way from the southern city to Lahore when most carriages came off the rails and rammed into each other near the town of Mehrabpur. A senior railway official ruled out sabotage, saying a faulty track was believed to have caused the crash. - (Reuters)
Death row Briton to be released
EDINBURGH -A Briton who has spent 20 years on death row is expected to be home for Christmas after striking a deal with US prosecutors, his lawyer said today.
Kenny Richey (43) has agreed a plea deal which will allow him to walk free and return to Scotland.
Earlier this year the former US marine's conviction for starting a fire in 1986, which claimed the life of a two-year-old girl in Ohio, was overturned.
News of Richey's impending release was welcomed by human rights campaigners and politicians, with his lawyer describing it as a "complete victory". - (Reuters)
Guantánamo three to return to UK
LONDON -Three British residents held at the Guantánamo Bay prison camp for suspected terrorists have been freed and are due to return to Britain after more than four years in captivity.
Jordanian Jamil el-Banna (45), Libyan Omar Deghayes ( 37) and Algerian Abdennour Sameur (33) were due to arrive at an airport north of London accompanied by a doctor and under escort by counter-terrorism police, their lawyers said. - (Reuters)
Time names Putin person of the year
WASHINGTON - Timemagazine named Russian president Vladimir Putin its person of the year for 2007 yesterday, saying that he had returned his country from chaos to "the table of world power", although at a cost to democratic principles.
Mr Putin will appear on the cover of a special issue of Timeas the person the magazine's editors believe had the greatest impact on events, for better or worse.
"He's not a good guy, but he's done extraordinary things," said Timemagazine's managing editor, Richard Stengel. - (Reuters)
Pakistan artist and wife murdered
KARACHI -Ismail Gulgee, Pakistan's most prominent artist, was found murdered on Wednesday along with his wife and a maid in their Karachi home, police said. He was 81.
They said the three were found gagged in different rooms of the house, which is in the city's most upmarket district. The hands of his wife, Zarina, were tied.
All three were suffocated, police said. - (Reuters)