Today's other stories in brief
Baghdad car bomb kills 10, injures 66
BAGHDAD - A parked car bomb in central Baghdad killed 10 people and wounded 66 yesterday, police said. Witnesses saw a cloud of smoke rising over the area on the east side of the Tigris river in the centre of the Iraqi capital.
The bomb struck while many in the capital were attending prayers. Police said the victims were civilians. - (Reuters)
Köhler criticises Merkel's reforms
BERLIN - German president Horst Köhler has sharply criticised the reform course of chancellor Angela Merkel, saying her government needs to do more to prepare the country to meet the challenges of globalisation.
In unusually frank comments given in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily, Mr Köhler questioned decisions by Dr Merkel's coalition to extend jobless benefits to older workers and introduce a minimum wage in the postal sector. - ( Reuters)
China abandons plan to build dam
BEIJING - China has abandoned controversial plans to build a huge dam which would have submerged one of the country's most renowned tourist areas and forced the relocation of 100,000 people in the southwestern province of Yunnan.
In a rare and high-profile victory for China's environmental movement, the project at Tiger Leaping Gorge on the upper reaches of the Yangtze river was scrapped during a meeting in the provincial capital, Kunming.
It is unlikely that hydropower construction will come to a halt in the remote and energy-poor area, however. Officials have turned their attention to sites further upstream. - (Guardian service)
Lebanon election postponed again
BEIRUT - Lebanon's presidential election has been postponed to January 12th from today, the parliament speaker said yesterday, in the 11th delay to the vote.
Rival pro- and anti-Syrian camps are still wrangling over how to share power in a future coalition government once army chief Gen Michel Suleiman is elected as president. - (Reuters)
Motion passed to abolish monarchy
KATHMANDU - Nepal's provisional parliament has approved a motion to abolish the monarchy, as part of negotiations with former Maoist rebels to underpin a fragile peace deal.
The result comes after the rebels fought a decade- long insurgency demanding an end to the monarchy, and analysts say the result is a compromise because King Gyanendra will remain in the palace for now, albeit stripped of all powers. - (Reuters)
Bush, Gul to discuss Kurdish rebels
WASHINGTON - US president George W Bush will discuss efforts to counter Kurdish rebels with Turkish president Abdullah Gul when they meet at the White House on January 8th, the White House said yesterday.
It will be Mr Gul's first visit to Washington after being elected president in August. The meeting comes amid regional tensions over cross-border attacks. - (Reuters)